Valiant Class

This class was the first all-British nuclear-powered submarine.

Rolls-Royce were responsible for building the steam-raising plant and English Electric responsible for the steam turbines.   This class would serve as the prototype for all further British-built Fleet submarines.

Their dimensions were somewhat larger than the 'Dreadnought' class.

2 Built

Submarine	Builder	Built
Valiant Warspite	Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness.	1966 1967

Technical Information

Displacement (tons):	3,500 sf 4,500 sm
Length (ft):	285 oa
Breadth (ft)	33.25
Draught/Height (ft):	8.2
Machinery:	1 x Pressurised water reactor. 2 x English Electric Steam Turbines - 15,000 shp. 1 shaft.
Speed (kts):	25 sf 30 sm
Oil Supply (tons):	na
Armament:	6 x 21 inch forward tubes. 26 reloads.
Sensors:	1 x 1006, 1 x ESM.
Sonars:	1 x 183, 1 x 2001.
Range:	na
Complement:	14 Officers and 96 Others.
sm = submerged, sf = surfaced, oa = overall, hp = horsepower, na = not available.

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H.M. Submarine Valiant.

H.M. Submarine Valiant as she was in 1966.

Type:	'Fleet Submarine' SSN
Class	Valiant Class
Pennant No.:	S102
Builder	Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness.
Laid Down:	22nd January 1962.
Launched	3rd December 1963.
Commissioned:	18th July 1966.
Commander:	1966 - Cdr. P.G.M. Herbert. 1982 - Cdr. T. Le Marchand.
Complement:	14 Officers and 96 Ratings.
Fate:	Valiant completed a wholly submerged journey from Singapore on the 25th April 1967, this was a record underwater voyage for any British submarine at the time. On her outward journey she had only surfaced once at Mauritius. Her first commission was completed in 1970 and she was refitted at Chatham Dockyard. Her second commission commenced on the 12th May 1972 in the 2nd Squadron at Devonport. Prior to the end of her second commission whe was part of the 1977 Fleet Review, her second refit was also at Chatham Dockyard. The third commission commenced in 1980 and she later took part in the Falklands Conflict in 1982. Valiants third refit took place at Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland and she recommissioned in 1989. She was in service longer than any other of the early nuclear boats. During a return journey from the States in 1994 she devloped engine problems and she was paid off in August of 1994. She was laid up at Devonport, it is/was intended that once her reactor core is/was removed that she should be raised out of the water and placed on public display.

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H.M. Submarine Warspite.

Type:	'Fleet Submarine' SSN
Class	Valiant Class
Pennant No.:	S103
Builder	Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness.
Laid Down:	10th December 1963.
Launched	25th September 1965.
Commissioned:	18th April 1967.
Commander:	Not known at present.
Complement:	14 Officers and 96 Ratings.
Fate:	Warspite was paid off at Devonport (where she remained) in 1991.

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