| Revision as of 08:17, 14 July 2008 edit88.112.204.127 (talk) →Incidents← Previous edit | Revision as of 08:18, 14 July 2008 edit undo88.112.204.127 (talk) →Incidents: added infomation on Red sea incident, sub will now be scrappedNext edit → | ||
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| It is unlikely that Superb will be repaired and returned to active service as she was due to be decommissioned in ] anyway, prior to the grounding incident. | It is unlikely that Superb will be repaired and returned to active service as she was due to be decommissioned in ] anyway, prior to the grounding incident. | ||
| Following on from the Red sea incident it was revealed that the damage was not just to the sonar equipment and included a seriously damaged hull. | Following on from the Red sea incident it was revealed in July that the damage was not just to the sonar equipment and included a seriously damaged hull. | ||
| The submarine has been taken out of service and is now awaiting decommissioning near Davenport dockyards along with six other submarines. | The submarine has been taken out of service and is now awaiting decommissioning near Davenport dockyards along with six other submarines. | ||
Revision as of 08:18, 14 July 2008
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 UK | |
| Name | HMS Superb |
| Operator | Royal Navy |
| Ordered | 20 May 1970 |
| Builder | Vickers |
| Laid down | 16 March 1972 |
| Launched | 30 November 1974 |
| Commissioned | 13 November 1976 |
| Homeport | Faslane |
| Motto | With Strength and Courage |
| Nickname(s) | Super B |
| Status | Template:Ship fate box active in service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Swiftsure-class submarine |
| Displacement | 4,900 tonnes (dived) |
| Length | 82.9 metres |
| Beam | 9.8 metres |
| Draught | 8.5 metres |
| Propulsion | One Rolls-Royce pressurised water nuclear reactor (PWR1) |
| Speed | In excess of 20 knots (37 km/h), dived |
| Complement | 116 officers and men |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 5 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes Spearfish torpedoes RN Sub Harpoon missiles |
HMS Superb (S109) is a nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class serving in the Royal Navy. HMS Superb was launched on February 17, 1973 at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The boat was built by Vickers Shipbuilding Groups, now a division of BAE Systems.
Superb's current CO is Cdr Steve Drysdale RN, who assumed command of the boat in December 2006. Cdr Drysdale formerly served as Executive Officer aboard HMS Vigilant (Port) and briefly as commander of both HMS Spartan and HMS Sovereign prior to their disposal.
Operations
Since being commissioned into the Royal Navy on July 11, 1974, Superb has been involved in many operations through out the world. She was the first British submarine to visit the Arctic Ocean and sail under the polar ice caps.
During the Falklands War, Superb was spotted sailing from Gibraltar, which promoted press speculation that she was sailing to the South Atlantic to enforce a maritime exclusion zone. In fact, only HMS Spartan was sailing south at that time. However the British encouraged this speculation to put pressure on the Argentine Navy.
In support of the war against terror in 2001, HMS Superb operated in the Indian Ocean.
In 2007, Superb successfully completed training manoeuvres off the Scottish coast, engaging with HMS Daring, a brand new Type 45 destroyer.
Incidents
In January 2008 a sentry was found sleeping while on watch, the reprimand to the crew was caught on video..
On 26 May 2008, the Superb hit an underwater pinnacle in the Red Sea, 80 miles south of the Suez Canal. None of the 112 crew were injured and only her sonar equipment was damaged, forcing her to resurface. She remained watertight though was unable to submerge due to the damage to her sonar. After undertaking initial repairs at the Souda Bay NATO base on Crete on 10 June 2008, she passed through the Mediterranean, stopping at sea some miles off Gibraltar to offload some crew in the dead of night before continuing on to Devonport Dockyard on 28 June 2008, and may still return to her homeport, Faslane, in due course.
It is unlikely that Superb will be repaired and returned to active service as she was due to be decommissioned in 2009 anyway, prior to the grounding incident.
Following on from the Red sea incident it was revealed in July that the damage was not just to the sonar equipment and included a seriously damaged hull. The submarine has been taken out of service and is now awaiting decommissioning near Davenport dockyards along with six other submarines.
Crest and Affiliations
Superb's official crest depicts a heraldic lion with an anchor superimposed. This was the family crest of Sir Richard Keats who commanded a previous vessel of the name during the Napoleonic wars. However, throughout the Navy she is known as Super B, and there is an unofficial crest depicting a superhero bumblebee.
Superb is affiliated with The Royal Dragoon Guards.
References
- http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.9979
- "MoD acts over submarine incident". BBC. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
- "UK submarine hits Red Sea rocks". BBC. 2008-05-27. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- "Damaged Royal Navy sub returns home". Reuters. 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
External links
| Swiftsure-class submarines | |
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