| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | SSN 4b |
| Fate: | Decommissioned at Devonport 19-06-2014 |
Launched by Mrs Sue Squires wife of Admiral Robert 'Tubby' Squires (Retd) a former FOSM motto: "Esto Perpetua"
For 17 hours, HMS Tireless was on top of the world - and the memories will linger long in the minds of the sailors who experienced it.
| 05-07-1979 | Ordered from Vickers, Barrow |
| 08-12-1981 | Laid Down |
| 17-03-1984 | Launched |
| 05-10-1985 | Completed |
| 14-10-1985 | Left Barrow |
| 13-05-2003 | While on exercise in the Arctic and travelling at a depth of 60 metres, Tireless collided with an iceberg. There was no prior warning of the impending collision from passive sonar or other onboard sensors. The submarine's bow was forced down nine degrees and the vessel subsequently broke free of the iceberg at a depth of 78 metres. Some damage was sustained to the upper section of the boat. Before the incident, the Royal Navy had not conducted under-ice operations since 1996. |
| 19-04-2004 | Tireless and USS Hampton rendezvoused under the Arctic ice and surfaced together at the North Pole. |
| 21-04-2007 | HMS Tireless, while participating in the Joint US Navy/Royal Navy Ice Exercise in the Arctic Ocean, experienced an explosion of a self contained oxygen generation candle that killed two crew members and injured one. The explosion occurred at approximately 12:20am. |
| 09-07-2010 | Tireless began a ten-month deployment, spending 253 days at sea, the longest conducted by a Royal Navy submarine for ten years |
| 12-05-2011 | Tireless completed a ten-month deployment, spending 253 days at sea, the longest conducted by a Royal Navy submarine for ten years |
| 01-04-2014 | Tireless arrived in the southern Indian Ocean to join the search for a missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, where its sophisticated underwater listening equipment was used in an unsuccessful to attempt to detect the underwater locator beacon of the aircraft's flight recorders |
| 19-06-2014 | Decommissioned at Devonport |
| Primary Roles | Anti-submarine/surface vessel warfare |
| Secondary Roles | Land attack (optional), Minelaying, Designed for littoral, deep sea or world-wide deployment. |
| Length overall | 91.7m |
| Beam | 10.4m |
| Draught | 10m (max) |
| Displacement | 6,000 tons (surface) |
| 6,500 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | over 300m |
| Speed | Submerged 32 knots (design) |
| No. of shafts | 1 |
| Reactor | 1 x Rolls Royce PWR-2 |
| Turbines | 2 x GEC Turbines |
| Generators | 2 x WH Allen turbo generators, 2 Paxman diesel alternators (2,800 hp) |
| Power | 15,500 shp |
| Endurance | 90 day patrol |
| Propulsion | Pump jet propulsor |
| Armament | 5 x 533mm missile tubes |
| Total of 38 weapons | |
| Sub Harpoon missiles (SSM) | |
| Spearfish torpedoes | |
| Tigerfish torpedoes | |
| Tomahawk missiles (SLCM) | |
| Mines (in lieu of torpedoes) | |
| Countermeasures | 2 x SSE Mk 10 Launchers for Type 2066 and 2071 decoys |
| ESM; Racal UAP 3, passive intercept | |
| Navigation | Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 |
| Combat Data Systems | BAeSEMA SMCS |
| Weapons Control | Dowty tactical control system SAFS 3 FCS |
| Sonars | Marconi/Ferranti Type 2076 integrated suite with reelable towed array |
| Complement | 108 (12 officers) + 12 spare |
Platypus (I 56) 1916 - 1957 |
|
| Class: | Depot Ships |
| Built By: | |
| Build Group: | I 56 |
|
Fate: Platypus was placed into reserve on 13 May 1946, paid off on 1 November 1956 and was sold for scrap on 20 February 1958. |
|
The Deadly Trade takes readers on an epic and enthralling voyage through submarine warfare, including how U-boats in two world wars tried to achieve victory, first for the Kaiser and then 20 years later for Adolf Hitler.
It tells the story of how such tiny craft took on mighty battleships, including U-boats sinking HMS Royal Oak and HMS Barham in WW2, along with the incredible exploits of British submariners in the Dardanelles and Baltic during WW1.The action-packed narrative includes bitterly contested Atlantic convoy fights of WW2 and submarines in the clash of battle fleets at Midway. Iain Ballantyne also reveals how the US Navy submarine service brought the Japanese empire to its knees in 1945, even before the atomic bombs were dropped.
The Deadly Trade tells the amazing stories of not only pioneers such as Drebbel, Fulton and Holland, but also of legendary submarine captains, including Max Horton and Otto Weddigen in WW1. During WW2 we sail to war with Otto Kretschmer, Gunther Prien, Fritz-Julius Lemp, Malcolm Wanklyn, Dudley Morton, Richard O'Kane and Sam Dealey. We get involved in the famous fights of Britain's ace submarine-killing escort group leaders Frederic 'Johnny' Walker, Donald Macintyre and Peter Gretton.
There is a dive into unconventional submarine warfare, including Japanese midget subs in the notorious Pearl Harbor raid plus British X-craft against the Tirpitz in Arctic waters.
Iain Ballantyne plunges readers into famous Enigma machine captures that played a key role in deciding the outcome of WW2. He explains what the Nazis were up to at the end of WW2, pursuing Total Underwater Warfare, partly via the revolutionary Type XXI U-boat. Ballantyne reveals the incredible story of a proposed cruise missile attack on New York and considers the likelihood (or otherwise) of Hitler escaping to South America in a U-boat.
The Deadly Trade takes us into the post-WW2 face-off between the Soviets and NATO, the sinking of the Indian frigate INS Khukri by Pakistan's PNS Hangor and attack on the Argentine cruiser ARA Belgrano by HMS Conqueror. The Deadly Trade concludes with today's growing submarine arms race and Putin's 'missile boat diplomacy' along with the use of cruise missiles by the British and Americans to try and decapitate rogue regimes.
12 pages added or updated in the last Array month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
| Primary Roles | Anti-submarine/surface vessel warfare |
| Secondary Roles | Land attack (optional), Minelaying, Designed for littoral, deep sea or world-wide deployment. |
| Length overall | 91.7m |
| Beam | 10.4m |
| Draught | 10m (max) |
| Displacement | 6,000 tons (surface) |
| 6,500 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | over 300m |
| Speed | Submerged 32 knots (design) |
| No. of shafts | 1 |
| Reactor | 1 x Rolls Royce PWR-2 |
| Turbines | 2 x GEC Turbines |
| Generators | 2 x WH Allen turbo generators, 2 Paxman diesel alternators (2,800 hp) |
| Power | 15,500 shp |
| Endurance | 90 day patrol |
| Propulsion | Pump jet propulsor |
| Armament | 5 x 533mm missile tubes |
| Total of 38 weapons | |
| Sub Harpoon missiles (SSM) | |
| Spearfish torpedoes | |
| Tigerfish torpedoes | |
| Tomahawk missiles (SLCM) | |
| Mines (in lieu of torpedoes) | |
| Countermeasures | 2 x SSE Mk 10 Launchers for Type 2066 and 2071 decoys |
| ESM; Racal UAP 3, passive intercept | |
| Navigation | Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 |
| Combat Data Systems | BAeSEMA SMCS |
| Weapons Control | Dowty tactical control system SAFS 3 FCS |
| Sonars | Marconi/Ferranti Type 2076 integrated suite with reelable towed array |
| Complement | 108 (12 officers) + 12 spare |
Platypus (I 56) 1916 - 1957 |
|
| Class: | Depot Ships |
| Built By: | |
| Build Group: | I 56 |
|
Fate: Platypus was placed into reserve on 13 May 1946, paid off on 1 November 1956 and was sold for scrap on 20 February 1958. |
|
The Deadly Trade takes readers on an epic and enthralling voyage through submarine warfare, including how U-boats in two world wars tried to achieve victory, first for the Kaiser and then 20 years later for Adolf Hitler.
It tells the story of how such tiny craft took on mighty battleships, including U-boats sinking HMS Royal Oak and HMS Barham in WW2, along with the incredible exploits of British submariners in the Dardanelles and Baltic during WW1.The action-packed narrative includes bitterly contested Atlantic convoy fights of WW2 and submarines in the clash of battle fleets at Midway. Iain Ballantyne also reveals how the US Navy submarine service brought the Japanese empire to its knees in 1945, even before the atomic bombs were dropped.
The Deadly Trade tells the amazing stories of not only pioneers such as Drebbel, Fulton and Holland, but also of legendary submarine captains, including Max Horton and Otto Weddigen in WW1. During WW2 we sail to war with Otto Kretschmer, Gunther Prien, Fritz-Julius Lemp, Malcolm Wanklyn, Dudley Morton, Richard O'Kane and Sam Dealey. We get involved in the famous fights of Britain's ace submarine-killing escort group leaders Frederic 'Johnny' Walker, Donald Macintyre and Peter Gretton.
There is a dive into unconventional submarine warfare, including Japanese midget subs in the notorious Pearl Harbor raid plus British X-craft against the Tirpitz in Arctic waters.
Iain Ballantyne plunges readers into famous Enigma machine captures that played a key role in deciding the outcome of WW2. He explains what the Nazis were up to at the end of WW2, pursuing Total Underwater Warfare, partly via the revolutionary Type XXI U-boat. Ballantyne reveals the incredible story of a proposed cruise missile attack on New York and considers the likelihood (or otherwise) of Hitler escaping to South America in a U-boat.
The Deadly Trade takes us into the post-WW2 face-off between the Soviets and NATO, the sinking of the Indian frigate INS Khukri by Pakistan's PNS Hangor and attack on the Argentine cruiser ARA Belgrano by HMS Conqueror. The Deadly Trade concludes with today's growing submarine arms race and Putin's 'missile boat diplomacy' along with the use of cruise missiles by the British and Americans to try and decapitate rogue regimes.
12 pages added or updated in the last Array month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
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