The four Resolution class SSBN were: HMSRenown, HMSRepulse, HMSResolution and HMSRevenge, which bore the same names as some British battleships and battlecruisers of WWII. The choice of this type of name has to do with the fact that these types of ships were the capital ships of their time, as now SSBNs are.Vickers Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness built the Repulse and Resolution submarines while Cammell Laird in Birkenhead built the Renown and the Revenge boats. All began to build between 1964 and 1965 and were put into service with the Royal Navy between October 1967 and December 1969.It can be said that Resolution class was a modified version of the Valiant class attack submarines, but very much larger. The bow and stern were manufactured separately and then assembled to the central part where the missile wells were.(HMS Renown image). Although the missiles are American, the warhead was completely British and consisted of 3 MRV, (multiple reentry vehicles), of 200 kt each. In 1982, it was replaced by the more accurate “Chevaline” warhead, composed by 2 MRV of 225 kt each. This warhead had huge development problems and cost 4 times the previous ones.(HMS Resolution image). The missiles armed with the British warhead were the Polaris A-3T and mounted 2 MRVs, “Jennie” as primary and “Reggie” as secondary. After being updated with the Chevaline warhead, forming the A3TK variant, both MRVs were re-designated: “Harriet” as primary and “Reggie”, (reused from the previous warhead), as a secondary.(HMS Resolution image). There were plans to build a fifth boat of this class, the HMS Ramillies, but due to the high costs of the program, it was canceled in 1965. The United States collaborated in the development by directly sending material to be mounted on the submarines as the automated hovering system, the machinery loading hatch, standardized valves or welded hull valves.(HMS Resolution image). The Royal Navy had two full crews for each submarine, in order that ships were the largest number of patrol days at sea to make the deterrent more effective. Because they only had 4 boats, they could not leave them in the base while the crews rested. The HMS Resolution was placed in the 10th Submarine Squadron based at Clyde Naval Base, Faslane, Scotland.(HMS Resolution image). In addition to the Polaris missiles, these submarines had six 533mm torpedo tubes in the bow armed with acoustic Tigerfish heavy weight torpedoes. They also have an emergency motor equipment consisting of a diesel engine, an electric motor and conventional batteries. They had an “I” band search radar and two long-range, low-frequency sonars located aft of the boat, one active/passive mode and other passive mode.(HMS Resolution image). The cost of the four Resolution class submarines was approximately £ 159,290,000, plus the cost of Polaris missiles. In comparison, the development of the Chevaline warhead, had a cost not less than £ 1,000,000,000, and this data is only an estimate, because the reports are still classified.
