HMS Anson (S123)

HMS Anson is the fifth Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy. She will be the eighth vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, after Admiral George Anson.

On 25 March 2010, BAE Systems were given the go-ahead by the government to begin construction on boats 5 and 6 (Anson and Agamemnon), being given a £300 million contract for the "initial build" of boat 5 and "long lead procurement activities" for boat 6. Later that year work was begun on the pressure hull and reactor compartments and construction is currently ongoing as of 2011. On 15 September 2011 it was announced that boat 5 would be named Anson; it was previously believed that boat 5 would be Agamemnon and boat 6 Anson. Her keel was ceremonially laid on 13 October 2011. On 19 November 2015, a possible new contract worth £1.3 billion was signed for HMS Anson.

Design

Nuclear power

Anson's nuclear reactor will not need to be refuelled during the boat's 25-year service. Since the submarine can purify water and air, she will be able to circumnavigate the planet without resurfacing. The main limit is that the submarine will only be able to carry three months' supply of food for 98 officers and ratings.

HMS Anson

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Anson, after Admiral George Anson:

HMS Anson (1886)

HMS Anson was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the British Royal Navy, and was the last member of the Admiral class to be laid down.

In common with Rodney, Howe, Camperdown and Benbow, she was a progressive development of the design of Collingwood and was an exact sister ship of Camperdown.

Design and description

Armament

She was armed with 13.5 in (340 mm) guns, which was a significant advance on earlier ships; this gun was chosen because it was of virtually the same weight and power as the guns which the French naval architects were shipping in their Formidable and Amiral Baudin. It was a much more powerful weapon than the 12 in (300 mm) gun mounted in Collingwood and in some earlier ships, and would in theory penetrate the thickest armour carried on any warship then afloat. Tests indicated that a charge of 630 lb (290 kg) of gunpowder or 187 lb (85 kg) of cordite would fire a 1,250 lb (570 kg) shell through an iron plate 27 in (69 cm) thick at a range of 1,000 yd (910 m). Because of delays in the manufacture of these weapons the completion of Anson, and of all of her sisters, was vastly prolonged. Delays spanned six or seven years between laying-down and commissioning.

HMS Anson (1747)

HMS Anson was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Bursledon by Philemon Ewer to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 10 October 1747.

Anson served until 1773, when she was sold out of the navy.

Today, a model of the ship appears on a monument to Ewer in Bursledon parish church.

Notes

References