View source for Valiant-class submarine

{{Short description|1966 class of British fleet submarines}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Valiant class submarine 1986.jpeg
|Ship caption=A ''Valiant''-class submarine
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=
|Builders=[[Vickers Armstrong]]
|Operators={{navy|United Kingdom}}
|Class before= {{HMS|Dreadnought|S101|6}}
|Class after= {{sclass|Churchill|submarine|4}}
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range=
|In service range=   
|In commission range=18 July 1966 – 12 August 1994
|Total ships building= 
|Total ships planned=
|Total ships completed=2
|Total ships cancelled=
|Total ships active=
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=
|Total ships retired=2
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= 
|Ship type=[[Nuclear submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|4400|LT|t|lk=in|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|4900|LT|t|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length= {{convert|285|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam= {{convert|33|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draught= {{convert|27|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship depth=
|Ship propulsion=*1 × [[Rolls-Royce PWR|Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor]]
*2 × steam turbines
*1 shaft
|Ship speed=*{{convert|20|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|29|kn|mph km/h}} submerged
|Ship range=Unlimited, except by food supplies
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement=103
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*''Originally'' :
*6 × {{convert|21|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} bow [[torpedo tube]]s
*32 × [[List of torpedoes#21 inch Mark VIII|Mark VIII]] and [[Mark 24 Tigerfish|Tigerfish]] torpedoes
*''or''
*64 × Mk.5 and Mk.6 [[Naval mine|mines]]
*''Later '' :
*26 × torpedoes
*6 × UGM-84B [[Boeing Harpoon|Harpoon]] [[Anti-ship missile]]s
*''or''
*[[Stonefish (mine)|Stonefish]] and Sea Urchin mines
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''''Valiant'' class''' were a class of [[Nuclear marine propulsion|nuclear-powered]] [[fleet submarine]]s in service with the [[Royal Navy]] from the mid-1960s until 1994. They were the first fully British nuclear fleet submarine; the earlier {{HMS|Dreadnought|S101|6}} used an American nuclear reactor. There were only two boats in the class, the first, ''Valiant'' (the nameship) commissioned in 1966 three years after ''Dreadnought'', and ''Warspite'' the following year. Both were built by [[Vickers]] at [[Barrow-in-Furness]].

==Design==

The class were based on ''Dreadnought'', but were enlarged by 20 feet (6 m) and had a dived displacement of 4,900 tons compared to 4,000 tons. Improvements made since the original ''Dreadnought'' meant that they ran significantly quieter under main power, and also had a [[Paxman (engines)|Paxman]] diesel-electric generator that could be used for [[Silent running (submarine)|silent running]]. In most other respects (outside the power plant), the ''Valiant''s were identical to ''Dreadnought''.

According to former head of the [[Royal Corps of Naval Constructors]] R.J. Daniel, when US Admiral [[Hyman G. Rickover]], widely regarded as the father of the nuclear submarine, initially learned of the proposed rafting system for the ''Valiant'' class, (in which ship's machinery is acoustically isolated from the hull by padding known as "rafts"), he was dismissive of the concept, with the result that the Royal Navy gained an advantage in submarine silencing that the [[United States Navy]] did not introduce until considerably later.<ref name=daniels-2004>{{cite book |pages=134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDeBCVj_PJQC |title=The End Of An Era: The Memoirs Of a Naval Constructor |first=R.J |last=Daniels |publisher=Periscope Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=1-904381-18-9 |access-date=25 April 2017}}</ref>

==Service==
The ''Valiant''s were primarily used in the anti-submarine role, important during the [[Cold War]]. In 1967 ''Valiant'' set a [[Royal Navy]] (RN) record of sailing 12,000 miles (19,312&nbsp;km) submerged in twenty-eight days, from [[Singapore]] to the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. Both boats received a number of refits, including the capability to use the [[Boeing Harpoon|Harpoon missile]]. ''Valiant'' and other nuclear fleet submarines served in the [[Falklands War]] in 1982.

The ''Valiant''s had long careers: ''Warspite'' was decommissioned in 1991, and ''Valiant'' in 1994, due to cracks being discovered in her primary to secondary cooling system. They were very successful and served as the template for the {{sclass|Resolution|submarine|0}} ballistic missile submarine and subsequent {{sclass|Churchill|submarine|0}} fleet submarines.

==Construction Programme==
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%;"
|-valign=top
!  | [[Pennant number|Pennant]]
!  | Name
!  | (a) Hull builder<br>(b) Main machinery manufacturers
!  | Ordered
!  | Laid down
!  | Launched
!  | Accepted<br>into service
!  | Commissioned
!  | Decommissioned
!  | Estimated<br>building cost<ref>"Unit cost, i.e. excluding cost of certain items (e.g. aircraft, First Outfits)." Text from ''Defences Estimates''</ref>
|-valign=top
|  | S102
|  | [[HMS Valiant (S102)|''Valiant'']] 
|  | (a) Vickers Ltd, Shipbuilding Group, Barrow-in-Furness <br>(b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness<br>(b) Rolls-Royce and Associates Ltd.<ref name=DE1967>''Defence Estimates, 1967-68'', page 75, ''List and particulars of new ships which have been accepted or are expected to be accepted into HM service during the Financial Year ended 31st March 1967''</ref>
|  | 31 August 1960 <ref name=Janes1982p547>Moore, John, ''Janes Fighting Ships 1982-83'', pub Jane's Publishing, 1982, {{ISBN|0-7106-0742-3}} page 547.</ref>
|  | 21 January 1962 <ref name=Conwaysp530>Gardiner, Robert ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995'', pub Conway Maritime Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-85177-605-1}} page 530.</ref>
|  | 3 December 1963 <ref name=Conwaysp530/>
|  | July 1966 <ref name=DE1967/>
|  | 18 July 1966 <ref name=Conwaysp530/>
|  | 12 August 1994
|  | £25,300,000 <ref name=DE1967/>
|-valign=top
|  | S103
|  | [[HMS Warspite (S103)|''Warspite'']] 
|  | (a) Vickers Ltd, Shipbuilding Group, Barrow-in-Furness <br>(b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness<br>(b) Rolls-Royce and Associates Ltd.<ref name=DE1968>''Defence Estimates, 1968-69'', page 75, ''List and particulars of new ships which have been accepted or are expected to be accepted into HM service during the Financial Year ended 31st March 1968''</ref>
|  | 12 December 1962 <ref name=Janes1982p547/>
|  | 10 December 1963 <ref name=Conwaysp530/>
|  | 25 September 1965 <ref name=Conwaysp530/>
|  | April 1967 <ref name=DE1968/>
|  | 18 April 1967 <ref name=Conwaysp530/>
|  | 1991
|  | £21,455,000 <ref name=DE1968/>
|-
|}

==See also==
[[List of submarines of the Royal Navy]]

==References==
===Cited footnotes===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Cited texts===

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

{{Commons category|Valiant class submarines}}

{{Valiant class submarine}}
{{UK submarine classes after 1945}}

[[Category:Valiant-class submarines| ]]