HMS Trafalgar (S107)

Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Royal Navy

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Trafalgar.

HMS Trafalgar, 2008

History
United Kingdom
Name| HMS Trafalgar
Namesake| Battle of 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 and type| Trafalgar-class submarine
Displacement|

* Surfaced: 4,500 to 4,800 t (4,700 long tons; 5,300 short tons)[2]
* Submerged: 5,200 to 5,300 t (5,200 long tons; 5,800 short tons)[2]

Length| 85.4 m (280 ft)[2]
Beam| 9.8 m (32 ft)[2]
Draught| 9.5 m (31 ft)[2]
Propulsion|

* 1 × Rolls-Royce PWR1 nuclear reactor
* 2 × GEC steam turbines
* 2 × WH Allen turbo generators; 3.2 MW
* 2 × Paxman diesel generators 2,800 shp (2.1 MW)
* 1 × 7-bladed conventional propeller[3]
* 1 × motor for emergency drive
* 1 × auxiliary retractable prop

Speed| Over 30 knots (56 km/h), submerged[2]
Range| Unlimited[2]
Complement| 130[2]
Electronic warfare
& decoys|

* 2 × SSE Mk8 launchers for Type 2066 and Type 2071 torpedo decoys
* RESM Racal UAP passive intercept
* CESM Outfit CXA
* SAWCS decoys carried from 2002

Armament|

* 5 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes with stowage for up to 30 weapons:
* Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles
* Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes

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.[3] Trafalgar was the fifth vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, after the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.

## Operational history

[edit]

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.[4][5]

### Combat history

[edit]

After Operation Veritas, the attack on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces following the September 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.[6]

### Grounding incidents

[edit]

In July 1996, Trafalgar grounded near the Isle of Skye in Scotland.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

### Decommissioning

[edit]

Trafalgar was decommissioned on 4 December 2009 at Devonport.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004-2005. Jane's Information Group Limited. p. 796. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bush, Steve (2014). British Warships and Auxiliaries. Maritime Books. p. 12\. ISBN 978-1904459552.
3. ^ a b Graham, Ian, Attack Submarine, Gloucester Publishing, Oct 1989, page 12. ISBN 978-0-531-17156-1
4. ^ Hopkins, Nick (12 December 2012). "Royal Navy submariner jailed for trying to pass secrets to Russia". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
5. ^ Cheston, Paul; Razaq, Rashid (13 November 2012). "Royal Navy petty officer admits trying to give nuclear submarine secrets to Russia". Evening Standard. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
6. ^ Trafalgar Returns
7. ^ House of Commons Hansard Written Answers (publications.parliament.uk)
8. ^ "Latest Scotland, UK & World News - The Daily Record". dailyrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
9. ^ Dawar, Anil (23 May 2008). "Submarine's £5m repair bill blamed on tracing paper". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
10. ^ "Submarine's final sailing to base". BBC News. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2022.

## External links

[edit]

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)

* v
* t
* e

Trafalgar-class submarines

* Trafalgar
* Turbulent
* Tireless
* Torbay
* Trenchant
* Talent
* Triumph

* Preceded by: Swiftsure class
* Followed by: Astute class

* List of submarines of the Royal Navy
* List of submarine classes of the Royal Navy

* v
* t
* e

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2002

Shipwrecks|

* 19 Mar: Belmonte
* 17 May: USS Spiegel Grove
* 4 Jun: USS Hepburn
* 12 Jun: USS Wainwright
* 5 Jul: USS Rathburne
* 8 Jul: USS White Plains
* 10 Jul: USS Harold E. Holt
* 26 Sep: Le Joola
* 6 Oct: USS Okinawa
* 9 Oct: USS Towers
* 31 Oct: ROCS Dang Yang
* Oct: Elisabeth Smit
* 5 Nov: HMAS Hobart
* 19 Nov: Prestige
* Nov: ROCS Lao Yang
* 4 Dec: USS Caron
* 14 Dec: Tricolor
* Unknown date: Regina Maris

Other incidents|

* 7 Jul: HMS Nottingham
* 22 Oct: Boka Star
* 6 Nov: HMS Trafalgar

2001 2003
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*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template