HMS Renown (S26) was the third of the Royal Navy's ballistic missile submarines.

Built by Cammell Laird and launched on 25 February 1967, she was decommissioned in 1996.

Construction

Renown, like the other Resolution-class submarines, was ordered on 8 May 1963 and was laid down at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 25 June 1964. Construction was slower than planned, with poor performance by Cammell Laird and its workforce resulting in both Renown and sister ship being delayed. In 1966, it was discovered that due to lax interpretation of drawings, Renowns torpedo storage compartment differed in length by from the lead ship , and in November that year, broken bits of metal were found in the submarine's primary cooling circuits, the removal of which delayed construction by two months. Renown was launched on 25 February 1967 by Edna Healey, wife of Denis Healey, the Secretary of State for Defence. By October 1967, Revenge was six months behind programme, and the Ministry of Defence considered towing the unfinished Renown and Revenge to Barrow-in-Furness for completion by Vickers-Armstrongs. She was formally commissioned on 15 November 1968.

Design

Renown was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of .

In 1974 Renown suffered structural damage when she struck the bottom of the sea during sea trials off Scotland.

In the 1990s the ageing Resolution-class was becoming difficult for the Royal Navy to operate, suffering from an increased number of defects, and Renown was forced to remain alongside at Faslane due to defects in 1995 before being decommissioned on 24 February 1996.

References

Bibliography

  • HMS Renown on battleships-cruisers.co.uk