RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

Submarines of the fleet
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Pelican
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RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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Navy Lookout

After refit lasting more than 6½ years, HMS Vanguard was formally rededicated for her 3rd commission at a ceremony in Devonport today.

4 Photos at - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 1862303746
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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Pelican wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:18 pm Navy Lookout

After refit lasting more than 6½ years, HMS Vanguard was formally rededicated for her 3rd commission at a ceremony in Devonport today.

4 Photos at - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 1862303746
Trident missile-armed submarine HMS Vanguard re-joins fleet

HMS Vanguard, the lead boat of the Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines, has rejoined the Royal Navy fleet after a maintenance period.

In December 2015, HMS Vanguard entered a ‘Long Overhaul Period and Refuel’, which was expected to take about 3 years and cost around £200m. It took almost seven years.

See - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/trident ... fKaXXAugYg
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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Navy Lookout

More than 6 years after her refit started, HMS Vanguard is today being moved out of number 9 Dry Dock in Devonport and onto the Power Range Testing berth in 5 basin.
A positive step but still a long way to go before she can conduct a deterrent patrol.
(Library Photo)
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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HMS VICTORIOUS

Re following - Well informed sources say there was a fire, necessitating a return to Faslane but she did not have to surface.

Dom Nicholls reports - about 6 weeks ago HMS Victorious forced to surface in the Atlantic due to electrical fire on board. Apparently not on deterrent patrol but transiting to the US for exercises. Fire extinguished but forced to return to Faslane.

See - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/1 ... -catching/
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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HMS Vanguard refit in Devonport:

The Sun Jerome Starkey reports at least 7 bolts holding insulation in place on nuclear reactor coolant pipes sheared off from over-tightening instead of being replaced, heads glued back on.

See - https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21217944/ ... uper-glue/

['Glueing' was used on one of the first batch of the OPVs, after detection by the RN it was rejected and rectified by the contractors.]
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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HMS Vanguard came out of the basin and onto the wall at Devonport today.

Epic refit that began in 2015 is complete at last and she can finally go back to sea in the near future.
See - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 2798710786
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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HMS Vanguard finally sails from Devonport after refit lasting more than 7 years

HMS Vanguard, one of the four Trident submarines that maintain the UK’s nuclear deterrent, left Devonport yesterday after a very much delayed Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)).
When Vanguard arrived in December 2015 for her second (LOP(R)) it was expected to take a maximum of 4 years and cost £200 million. Her three younger sisters, HMS Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance had already completed their first LOP(R) at Devonport averaging about 42 months. A combination of poor management, the impacts of COVID and additional challenges with refuelling resulted in Vanguard’s refit taking about 89 months, longer than the 83 months it took to originally build her.

A senior uniformed stakeholder admitted last year “Vanguard is a textbook example of how not to set up a major project. Among other things, we changed the scope of the project, did not invest in the workforce and did not invest in the infrastructure.” As a non-fixed-price contract, cost to the MoD is thought to have ballooned to over £500 million.

In January 2012, low levels of radioactivity were detected in the cooling water surrounding the Core H test-bed at the Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE) at Dounreay. It is believed this has been caused by microscopic leaks in the cladding that surrounds fuel elements. This is not a major safety issue and the test-bed is deliberately run much harder than an actual submarine reactor. No problems had been found in operational reactors but it was deemed sufficiently serious that the decision to refuel HMS Vanguard was taken as a precaution.

Dounreay has now been decommissioned and the RN no longer has a shore-based test reactor which could predict potential issues and find solutions before they occur in operational submarines. The closure was justified by improved computer modelling which in theory can carry out the same testing at a fraction of the cost.
Continues at - https://www.navylookout.com/hms-vanguar ... n-7-years/
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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VICTORIOUS

RN press release says work has started on HMS Victorious refit in Devonport (arrived 31st May). Project will sustain more than 1,000 jobs in the southwest region. Boat to be modernised to conduct patrols into the 2030s. No mention of cost or the target date for completion.
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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Pelican wrote: Mon Jun 26, 2023 12:40 pm VICTORIOUS

RN press release says work has started on HMS Victorious refit in Devonport (arrived 31st May). Project will sustain more than 1,000 jobs in the southwest region. Boat to be modernised to conduct patrols into the 2030s. No mention of cost or the target date for completion.
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... ious-refit
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: RN Submarines: Vanguard Class 1993

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Babcock awarded initial contract for second Vanguard Class submarine refit

Babcock and the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) have signed an initial contract for the multi-year refit of the second of the UK’s Vanguard Class nuclear submarines, HMS Victorious.

The initial full cost recovery agreement, which will be replaced with a contract on the same terms for the full programme before the end of the year, enables Babcock to begin deep maintenance of the complex submarine at its facility at Devonport.

HMS Victorious plays a vital role in the UK’s continuous at sea deterrent. The refit programme will support around 1000 jobs in the local community and will see Babcock continue to build its workforce for delivering future submarine maintenance at Devonport.
Continues at - https://www.babcockinternational.com/ne ... ine-refit/
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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