HMS Trafalgar (S107)
 HMS Trafalgar, 2008 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
| |
| Name: | HMS Trafalgar |
| Ordered: | 7 April 1977 |
| Builder: | Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | 15 April 1979 |
| Launched: | 1 July 1981 |
| Commissioned: | 27 May 1983 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 December 2009 |
| Homeport: | HMNB Devonport, Plymouth |
| Fate: | Awaiting Disposal |
| Badge: |
 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class & type: | Trafalgar-class submarine |
| Displacement: | 5,300 tonnes, submerged |
| Length: | 85.4 m (280 ft) |
| Beam: | 9.8 m (32 ft) |
| Draught: | 9.5 m (31 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | Up to 32 knots (59 km/h), submerged |
| Range: | Only limited by food and maintenance requirements. |
| Complement: | 130 |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
|
| Armament: | |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | Operation Veritas (Afghanistan) |
HMS Trafalgar is a decommissioned Trafalgar-class submarine of the Royal Navy. Unlike the rest of the Trafalgar-class boats that followed, she was not launched with a pump-jet propulsion system, but with a conventional 7-bladed propeller.[2] Trafalgar was the fifth vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, after the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
Operational history
In 2012 a Royal Navy submariner was jailed for 8 years for trying "to pass secrets to the Russians that could have undermined Britain's national security"; One element of this was information on "a secret operation undertaken by HMS Trafalgar."[3]
Combat history
After Operation Veritas, the attack on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, Trafalgar entered Plymouth Sound flying the Jolly Roger on 1 March 2002. She was welcomed back by Admiral Sir Alan West, Commander-in-Chief of the fleet and it emerged she was the first Royal Navy submarine to launch tomahawk cruise missiles against Afghanistan.[4]
Grounding incidents
In July 1996, Trafalgar grounded near the Isle of Skye in Scotland.[5]
In November 2002, Trafalgar again ran aground close to the Isle of Skye, causing £5 million worth of damage to her hull and injuring three sailors. She was travelling 50 metres below the surface at more than 14 knots when Lieutenant-Commander Tim Green, a student in the "Perisher" course for new submarine commanders, ordered a course change that took her onto the rocks at Fladda-chuain, a small but well-charted islet. Commander Robert Fancy, responsible for navigation, and Commander Ian McGhie, an instructor, both pleaded guilty at court-martial to contributing to the accident. On 9 March 2004 the court reprimanded both for negligence. Green was not prosecuted, but received an administrative censure.[6]
In May 2008 it was reported that the crash was caused by the chart being used in the exercise being covered with tracing paper, to prevent students marking it.[7]
Decommissioning
Trafalgar was decommissioned on 4 December 2009 at Devonport.[8]
In fiction
Trafalgar is featured in the novel Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, in which the submarine is sunk by a Soviet mine.
References
- ↑ Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004-2005. Jane's Information Group Limited. p. 796. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.
- ↑ Graham, Ian, Attack Submarine, Gloucester Publishing, Oct 1989, page 12. ISBN 978-0-531-17156-1
- ↑ Hopkins, Nick (2012-12-13). "Jail for submariner who tried to pass secrets to Russians: MI5 agents Vladimir and Dimitri fooled petty officer: Eight-year sentence given for serious betrayal". The Guardian (London: Guardian Newspapers Limited).
- ↑ Trafalgar Returns
- ↑ House of Commons Hansard Written Answers (publications.parliament.uk)
- ↑ Daily Record
- ↑ Guardian report
- ↑ BBC News Submarine's final sailing to base
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Trafalgar (S107). |
- Royal Navy HMS Trafalgar (royalnavy.mod.uk)
- MaritimeQuest HMS Trafalgar pages (maritimequest.com)
- The BBC - Pictures of Trafalgar's final voyage (news.bbc.co.uk)
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