HMS Churchill (S46)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | HMS Churchill |
| Namesake | Winston Churchill |
| Laid down | 30 June 1967 |
| Launched | 20 December 1968 |
| Commissioned | 15 July 1970 |
| Decommissioned | 28 February 1991 |
| Fate | Awaiting disposal |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Churchill-class submarine |
| Displacement | 4,900 tonnes (4,823 long tons) submerged |
| Length | 86.9 m (285 ft 1 in) |
| Beam | 10.1 m (33 ft 2 in) |
| Draught | 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion | 1 Rolls-Royce PWR nuclear reactor, 1 shaft |
| Speed | 28 knots (32 mph; 52 km/h) submerged |
| Complement | 103 |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 6 × 533 millimetres (21 in) torpedo tubes • Mark 8 torpedoes • Tigerfish torpedoes • RN Sub Harpoon missiles |
HMS Churchill was the first of three Churchill-class submarine nuclear fleet submarines that served with the British Royal Navy.
Propulsion
Churchill was chosen to trial the first full-size submarine pump jet propulsion. Trials of a high-speed unit were followed by further trials with a low-speed unit, and these were successful enough for the same propulsion to be fitted in the rest of the class.[1] Later British submarine classes also featured the pump jet, although first-of-class vessels Swiftsure and Trafalgar were fitted with propellers at build.
References
- ^ Bud, Robert; Gummett, Philip (2002). Cold war, hot science: applied research in Britain's defence laboratories, 1945-1990. NMSI Trading Ltd. p. 166. ISBN 9781900747479.