Protectors of Peace

Recognising 50 years of Royal Navy submariners providing the nation's continuous nuclear deterrent.

No mission in the 500-year history of the Royal Navy has been longer nor carried a greater burden than Operation Relentless: at least one submarine on patrol somewhere beneath the waves providing the nation's continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent. Only five of the world's navies possess this capability.

More than 350 patrols have been conducted collectively by eight nuclear submarines since the spring of 1969, demanding the skill, dedication and expertise not merely of several generations of submariners, but a huge 'army' of sailors and civilians standing behind them, supporting each mission.

Though technology, governments, the economy and UK and global political climate have changed repeatedly since HMS Resolution conducted her first patrol, the mission itself has remained unchanged: to protect the United Kingdom and her citizens from aggression and maintain the broader balance of international peace.

Cold War Guardians

In the 1950s, the nation's nuclear deterrent was delivered by the RAF and its V-bomber force, ready to strike at targets just as their predecessors had done in World War 2 - only with far more powerful weapons.

Missile and air defence technology meant the bombers were increasingly vulnerable, so the UK Government turned to newly-developed nuclear-powered submarines and cutting-edge ballistic missiles to deliver a deterrence which was almost invulnerable.

The result was the Resolution class of nuclear submarines - Resolution, Repulse, Renown and Revenge - each armed with up to 16 Polaris nuclear missiles.

Their design, construction and delivery is one of the triumphs of British industry and defence in the 20th Century. Four submarines, each as complex as the rockets aiming for the moon at the time, with a weapon system never before operated by the Royal Navy, and two new naval bases - one at Faslane for the submarines, one at nearby Coulport for the missiles - delivered inside seven years... and on budget.

While shipwrights and engineers toiled on building the submarines themselves at Cammell Laird on Merseyside and Vickers at Barrow, a small town with supporting facilities sprang up on the right bank of Gareloch which would become HMS Neptune.

Just weeks after the Royal Navy's new base on the Clyde opened in the spring of 1968, HMS Resolution conducted the first deterrent patrol (round-the-clock patrols did not begin until 1969 as the remaining R-boats entered service).

Submerging for up to three months at a time, the crew were almost entirely cut off from the outside world for the duration of the patrol.

No personal communications off a boat was permitted - an order which persists to this day. They received a regular update from their loved ones, known as a 'familygram', restricted to just 40 words.

If the messages contained bad news (such as the death of a family member or a request for a divorce), it was withheld from the intended recipient: the mission was more important than the man.

These hardships aside, life in an R-class submarine was considerable cleaner and more spacious than the old diesel-powered boats. Living in apparent luxury, deterrent boat submariners were dubbed 'bomber queens' by their contemporaries or 'Polaroids' after the popular make of instant cameras.

The only limit to a deterrent patrol - apart from the endurance of the men on board - was the amount of food which could be stored aboard. The longest patrol - 108 days - was completed in 1991 by HMS Resolution.

By the time of that mammoth patrol, the R-class and their missile system were nearing the end of their active lives and a new generation of deterrent boats was taking shape in a huge ship hall in Barrow.

When the final R-boat patrol ended in 1996, the class had completed 229 missions, 69 by HMS Resolution alone.

For more information about the Polaris era, visit the Silent and Secret exhibition at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport:

Guardians of today

Today the Royal Navy's No.1 mission is carried out by one of four Vanguard-class submarines, the largest, most powerful submersibles ever built for the Royal Navy.

From Polaris to Trident

Barely a decade after deterrent patrols had begun, the Navy and Government began to look at replacing both the submarines and the ultimate weapon.

The American-designed successor to Polaris was selected as the 'delivery system': Trident.

Taller, fatter, heavier than Polaris, Trident has three times the range of Polaris. Each missile can carry up to eight independently-targeted warheads.

A bigger missile required a much bigger boat to carry it. The Vanguard class displace more than twice as much as their predecessors - nearly 17,500 tonnes when submerged or nearly as heavy as flagship HMS Albion.

And a bigger boat meant a whole new generation of support facilities, everything from the gigantic Devonshire Dock Hall in Barrow where the V-boats - the V names are a nod to the RAF strategic bombers of the 1960s - would be constructed.

Similar work was required at Faslane to accommodate the new class of submarines, including the construction of the 'ship lift', capable of raising a Vanguard entirely out of the water so maintenance can be done drily and securely and a new electrical supplies capable of meeting demands equivalent to a town of 25,000 people. In addition, a new refuel/refit complex was built in Plymouth.

It took between four and six years to build each of the boats - Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance - over a 12-year-period. Vanguard began her first patrol at the end of 1994, with her youngest sister entering service in early 2001.

At least once every commission a ballistic missile submarine must conduct a DASO - Demonstration And Shakedown Operation - or, in simple terms, a test firing, carried out in the western Atlantic using a special-modified version of a Trident missile, crammed with sensors, to test the accuracy of the system.

As with the first generation of ballistic missile submarines - and the Dreadnought class which will follow today's boats - one Vanguard-class craft is on patrol, a second is training to take over from her, a third is undergoing routine maintenance and repairs, with the fourth undergoing long-term overhaul/refit/refuelling (currently HMS Vanguard in the special facility in Plymouth).

"You have to be ready to launch at any time. If that order does come, you know the decision has been made under the most extreme of circumstances."

Commander Andrew McKendrick, former Commanding Officer of HMS Vengeance

Life on board

Cutting-edge machinery and systems demand 120 highly-skilled submariners to operate and maintain them.

Each Vanguard-class boat is a small community of men and women performing a demanding job in challenging conditions for months at a time.

It takes a select group of men and women to carry out a deterrent patrol, men and women who are wedded to a boat for seven or eight months at a time, from working the boat up ready for a mission, followed by the patrol itself, and finally incredibly detailed post-patrol analysis.

To ensure round-the-clock provision of the deterrent, operational deterrent boats maintain two crews: Port and Starboard. One crew trains for then conducts the patrol, the other enjoys leave, undergoes personal or collective training in preparation for taking over responsibility for the submarine again.

The extensive work-up of a boat doesn't just test the crew, but also ensures the submarine itself is materially ready for the Navy's key mission.

The boat is tested on specialist ranges in western Scotland, where teams of scientists assess the accuracy of its sensors and make sure it is not making any unexpected noises, for example.

Silence is the golden rule of submarine operations. Metal clanging against metal is a tell-tale sign of a submarine's presence. There's no slamming of hatches, unnecessary hammering of tools, no music playing loudly. The boat's sonar operators not only listen for what foe might be lurking out there, but also to see if their submarine is emitting noise.

For the duration of a patrol, crew NEVER enjoy a break of more than six hours off duty. They work in shifts: 1-7pm, 7pm-1am, 1am-7am and finally 7am-1pm.

During down-time, they are expected to eat, sleep, wash, relax, carry out any administration, study, perhaps perform some 'phys' on a rowing or cycling machine squeezed into a space - there is no gym on board.

While there is no 'hot bunking' - using a crewmate's bunk while they're on duty - accommodation is tight: nine men will share a space just eight feet square, with bunks stacked three high.

Additional crew - such as trainees, assessors, visitors and guests during work-up - are often accommodated in the 'bomb shop': the torpedo room, catching 40 winks in sleeping bags placed on empty torpedo racks.

There is no TV, no radio, no internet. The only contact with the outside world is a daily news sheet and 120-word 'familygrams' sent by loved ones (crew cannot respond).

A sickbay and its medical team deal with everyday illnesses and can perform some operations, using the junior rates' mess as a theatre. Should a crew member die on patrol, their body is preserved on board; the mission comes first.

The boat is 'driven' by two planesmen who use aircraft-like control columns to steer the submarine on and beneath the waves, taking their instructions from the command team.

There is no ship's telegraph - 'full speed ahead'. 'half speed' and all that; instead the control room requests a speed in revolutions... and in Manoeuvring, the engine control room, a button marked 'accept' flashes and the engineers respond to the control room's request...

... but if the electronics between the two parts of the boat should ever fail, there's an old school voice pipe - like you see in war films such as The Cruel Sea - to pass instructions.

Commander Darren Mason gives us an insight into life aboard HMS Vengeance on patrol in 2019:

"The term 'Silent Service' cultivates numerous images of life beneath the waves, but perhaps it is best to think of a submarine as an un-located village beneath the surface. A village 'at one' with her environment.

Listening to whale song through the submarine's hull can drive a grown man to tears while the chatter of shrimps 'giving it something large' on the world beating sonar far below us on the seabed is a truly remarkable treat - one only afforded to a niche and highly-professional body of men and women.

This is what makes the Submarine Service what it is. Her people. While the machine in which I live and call my home is a remarkable piece of machinery - arguably an engineering masterpiece: it is the team who makes it work.

Challenges associated with the Continuous At Sea Deterrent demands their initiative, their skills and the implementation of innovative solutions to make effective and long-term repairs for extended periods of time. Support and advice to the on patrol submarine is simply not available.

My role as a submariner is more than simply team work; it is about having absolute trust and confidence in every member of the 167 members of my extended family, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: remaining on patrol until our relief takes her turn on the front line.

It is therefore the team on board and their loved ones ashore who make the submariner. I am undoubtedly fortunate to serve my country with the best caterers, the best logisticians, the best engineers and the best warfare specialists.

To me, the Submarine Service is much more than a cliché or strapline, it is her people; their determination to success and the professionalism which delivers an absolute capability. A capability which has continued to function unabated, for the last 50 years."

Food

The length of a deterrent patrol is largely dictated by the human element - the reactor and machinery can run for years, the air supply is limitless.

Food supplies are not. There is space on board for around three months' worth of grub to feed 120 men and women.

Guardians of the future

As the Vanguard class of submarines approach the end of the active lives, a new generation of deterrent boats is required.

In a decade or so, HMS Dreadnought and her three sisters will carry out the UK's ultimate mission.

When Britain began looking at replacing its Vanguard-class flotilla in 2006 and maintaining a nuclear deterrent well into the 21st Century, the Ministry of Defence considered four options:

A bomber fleet;
A surface-ship deterrent;
Land-based silos;
A new ballistic missile submarine force.

One-by-one the options were dismissed: the RAF option was too vulnerable both in the air and on the ground - and too expensive; surface ships needed massive protection and were too easy to locate; and silos on land were too expensive and required too much space. Once again Whitehall decided that submarines were the cheapest and most effective way of delivering the nation's strategic deterrence.

From that decision to the first steel being cut on HMS Dreadnought, a decade of design and planning passed as the UK committed to spend £31bn building four new submarines, built in the same shed at Barrow as their V-boat predecessors.

The quartet are expected to carry the deterrent into the 2060s and possibly beyond. Only Dreadnought has been laid down, but two of her three sisters have been given names: Valiant and Warspite.

At 152.9m (501ft) long, the new boats will be three metres longer than their predecessors and displace 1,300 more tonnes.

Each will be fitted with 12, not 16, missile tubes, plus four tubes for the Navy's standard heavyweight torpedo, Spearfish.

The boat is also due to be fitted with a new lighting system which can imitate night and day – making it easier for the 130-strong crew to get used to normal life after three months submerged.

There will be nearly 13,000 electrical items aboard, enough piping to cover the distance of a marathon and 20,000 pieces of cable stretching 215 miles, or from the boats’ future home in Faslane to Leeds.

For the first time in a British submarine, there’ll be a dedicated compartment for studying, a gym (rather than gym kit squeezed into odd spaces), and separate quarters for female crew.

When in full swing next decade, the Dreadnought programme will be the biggest defence project in the UK.