Much improved nuclear-powered attack submarine The Royal Navy's first nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines Also categorized under V for Valiant follow on. Only two submarines built with W used for the second boat, HMS Warspite.Ĭ - Churchill Class. Main conventionally powered class during Cold Warĭ - HMS Dreadnought. Early Cold War conventionally powered submarine World War Two submarine design used until 1970sĮ - Explorer Class. Personally I like the “Wizard Class”, it seems very fitting.Ĭold War Royal Navy submarine classes, letter sequence:Ī - Amphion Class. Other historical Royal Navy ship names beginning with W include Walrus, Wasp, Watchful, Whirlwind, Wild Boar, Wizard, Wolf, * and Wolverine*. There was an HMS Warspite already in service when the class was named, but that was soon to be decommissioned. This is a favorite ship name in the Royal Navy with a proud tradition. We can speculate that the lead ship might have been named HMS Warspite.

‘W’ was the natural follow to the ‘V’ class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). This had been applied since the 1930s and had, by the late Cold war, developed into a sequential walk through the alphabet. The class was given the letter ‘W’, a Royal Navy tradition where all the boats in the class would have names started with the same letter. This Covert Shores Recognition Guide Covers over 80 classes of submarines including all types currently in service with World Navies. Get The essential guide to World Submarines This likely meant being independently controllable and ‘fly by wire’. The control surfaces were to provide improved agility. This necessitated a larger diameter pressure hull which was to be made out of a new type of steel for greater diving depth. The latter had been developed for the Upholder Class diesel-electric boats.Ī new nuclear reactor was also planned the PWR2 then being developed for the Vanguard class. This implies the Spearfish torpedo, and also an Air Turbine Pump system for launching the weapons. The overall combat capability was to be a major upgrade to the Trafalgar class, with a new integrated sonar suite and a new combat system. SSN20 was to be larger than the Trafalgar, but much smaller than Seawolf. As this 1980s artwork shows, the Seawolf Class has a very large diameter pressure hull. They were designed to meet similar challenges. SSN20 was contemporary to the US Navy's SSN-21program, now known as Seawolf Class. But it is coincidence as the SSN20 refers to the first in class as being the 20th nuclear powered attack submarine. Navy SSN-21 program, now known as the Seawolf class. This fitted well with the contemporary U.S.

Facing ever quieter Soviet submarines (ALFA, VICTOR-III, SIERRA, AKULA.), the requirements moved in a similar direction to the U.S.

In the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, the Royal Navy wanted a new nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) to succeed the successful Trafalgar Class. But how did it come about? This article will lay out the unbuilt submarine designs which plot the story from the Trafalgar Class to the Astute class. Today the Astute is one of the most impressive, and recognizable, attack submarines afloat. The Astute Journey: Unbuilt British Submarine Designs After The Trafalgar Class

Seawolf class submarine dimensions