Ұлыбритания Корольдік Әскери-теңіз флотының "Resolution" кластығы атомдық суасты қайықтары

Royal Navy ballistic missile submarine class

The Resolution class was a class of four nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) built for the Royal Navy as part of the UK Polaris programme. Each submarine was armed with up to 16 UGM 27 Polaris A 3 nuclear missiles. The class comprised , , and They were built by Vickers Armstrong in Barrow in Furness and Cammell Laird in Birkenhead between 1964 and 1968. All four boats were based at HM Naval Base Clyde (HMS Neptune), west of Glasgow, Scotland. The Resolution class was the launch platform for the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear deterrent from the late 1960s until 1996, when it was replaced by the carrying the Trident II.

During the 1950s and early 1960s, the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent was based on the RAF's V bombers. But in the early 1960s developments in radar and surface to air missiles made it clear that bombers were becoming vulnerable, and would be unlikely to penetrate Soviet airspace. Free fall nuclear weapons would no longer be a credible deterrent. To address this problem, in May 1960 the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan arranged a deal with US President Eisenhower to equip the V bombers with the US designed AGM 48 Skybolt. The Skybolt was a 1000 mile (1609 km) range ballistic missile that allowed the launching bombers to remain well away from Soviet defences and launch attacks that would be basically invulnerable. With this range, the V bombers would have to fly only a few hundred miles from their bases before being in range for an attack on Moscow. Under the agreement the UK's contribution to the programme was limited to developing suitable mounting points on the Avro Vulcan bomber, installing the required guidance systems that fed the missiles updated positioning information, and development of a British version of the US W47 warhead to arm it, the RE.179 .

The incoming Kennedy administration expressed serious doubts of both Skybolt and the US deterrent force in general. Robert McNamara was highly critical of the US bomber fleet, which he saw as obsolete in an age of ICBMs. Skybolt was seen simply as a means of continuing the existence of a system he no longer considered credible, and given the rapidly improving capabilities of ICBM inertial guidance systems, a precision strike capability with free fall bombs would no longer be needed. McNamara was equally concerned about the UK also having its own nuclear force, and worried that the US could be drawn into a war by the UK. He wanted to bring the UK into a dual key arrangement. McNamara first broached the idea of cancelling Skybolt with the British in November 1962. When this was reported in the House of Commons, a storm of protest broke out. A meeting was arranged to settle the issue, and Macmillan stated in no uncertain terms that the UK would be retaining their independent deterrent capability, no matter what the cost. With development of their Polaris derived warheads well along, a suitable launch platform would be developed, if need be. Faced with a clear failure in policy terms, Kennedy gave up on the idea of strong arming Britain into accepting a dual key arrangement. By the end of the series of meetings, the UK had gained the much more impressive Polaris system, and would start development of a new submarine to launch it. The SSBNs would then take over the nuclear deterrent role from the RAF's V bombers from 1968 onwards.

Two pairs of the boats were ordered in May 1963 from Vickers Shipbuilding Ltd, Barrow in Furness and from Cammell Laird and Co. Ltd, Birkenhead. The option of buying a fifth unit, planned as , was cancelled in February 1965 as a cost savings measure by the government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Traditional battleship names were used, signifying that they were the capital ships of their time. Vickers Armstrong in Barrow in Furness constructed Resolution and Repulse and Cammell Laird in Birkenhead constructed Renown and Revenge. The construction was unusual in that the bow and stern were constructed separately before being assembled together with the American designed missile compartment. The design was a modification of the fleet submarine, but greatly extended to incorporate the missile compartment between the fin and the nuclear reactor. The length was , breadth , height and the displacement submerged and surfaced. A Rolls Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR1) and English Electric Company turbines gave them a speed of and they could dive to depths of Sixteen Polaris A3 missiles were carried, in two rows of eight. For emergencies there was a diesel generator and six torpedo tubes located at the bow, firing the Tigerfish wire guided homing torpedoes. The submarines put to sea with a crew of 143. According to former head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors R. J. Daniel, the Resolution class SSBNs possessed five features that were envied by the United States Navy: the machinery loading hatch, automated hovering system, welded hull valves, standardised valves, and raft mounted propulsion machinery.

The 1971 book The Fighting Temeraire by John Winton features a fictional British Polaris submarine, HMS Temeraire, which is used on a spying mission in the Black Sea. The 1987 book Skydancer by Geoffrey Archer features a fictional British Polaris submarine, HMS Retribution. In the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, the fictional Polaris submarine HMS Ranger is hijacked by the film's main villain. The novel The Penthouse Conspirators by Chapman Pincher features HMS Retaliation, HMS Reprisal, HMS Resolve and HMS Retribution.

The Encyclopedia of Warships, From World War Two to the Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson.