The war in the Pacific in 1941 kick-started some rethinking of the Royal Navy submarine policy.   Up until this time none of the existing British submarines had an adequate operational range.

It was decided to design a completely new class of submarine with much greater operational range and increased surface speed.   At the same time it was decided to introduce new technical advances, the most important being the all-welded hull.

Until now the Royal Navy had not considered the 'Snorkel' worth having although it had by now been used for some time by the German submarine service, it was now decided to fit this class with the snort mast.   The result was one of the best designed of all 'traditional' (diesel), type of submarine.   They had good sea performance, good armament and a greatly reduced underwater noise level.

Another first was the skipping of the letters X, Y and Z and once again the Royal Navy submarine service was starting with the 'A' class, some improvement on the original type.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) this class were not completed in time for too many of the boats to take part in WWII as they were delivered between 1945 and 1948.   They served for many years and were effectively the backbone of the submarine service until the introduction of the Porpoise and Oberon class submarine.   They had modifications carried out as will be seen by the boat profiles.

The last of the 'A' class to be in service was the Andrew who completed her service in 1974.

Technical Information