HMS Vengeance (S31)

HMS Vengeance is the fourth and final Vanguard-class submarine of the Royal Navy. Vengeance carries the Trident ballistic missile, the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Vengeance was built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions), was launched in September 1998, and commissioned in November 1999.

Before she was commissioned, the British Government stated that once the Vanguard submarines became fully operational, they would only carry 200 warheads.

Vengeance carries the unopened "last instructions" (letters of last resort) of the current British Prime Minister that are to be used in the event of a national catastrophe or a nuclear strike.

Operational history
On 31 March 2011, while on a training exercise Vengeance suffered a blockage in her propulsor causing a reduction in propulsion. The boat returned to Faslane naval base on the surface under her own power. According to the MOD the problems were not nuclear related.

Vengeance is currently (as of 2012) undergoing a three-and-a-half year refit at HMNB Devonport near Plymouth while her sister ship Vigilant is taking her place

Affiliations

 * The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)

General characteristics

 * Displacement: 16,000 tons submerged
 * Propulsion: Rolls-Royce PWR2 reactor, two GEC turbines, single shaft, pump jet propulsor
 * Electrical Power: two Paxman diesel generators, two WH Allen turbogenerators
 * Speed: 25 kn submerged
 * Complement: 14 officers, 121 men
 * Strategic Armament: 16 Lockheed Trident II D5 ballistic missiles
 * Defensive Armament: four 533 mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes, Spearfish torpedoes