Resolution-class submarine

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HMS Resolution in 1977
Class overview
Name	Resolution class
Builders	Vickers Shipbuilding Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness Cammell Laird and Co Ltd, Birkenhead
Operators	Royal Navy
Succeeded by	Vanguard class
Built	1964–1968
In service	1967–1996
Planned	5
Completed	4
Cancelled	1
Active	0
Retired	4
General characteristics
Type	Ballistic missile submarine
Displacement	surfaced: 7,500 long tons (7,600 t); submerged: 8,400 long tons (8,500 t)
Length	425 ft (130 m)
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draught	30 ft 1 in (9.17 m)
Propulsion	1 × Vickers/Rolls-Royce PWR1 pressurised-water nuclear reactor, 27,500 shp (20.5 MW); Propeller.
Speed	surfaced: 20 kn (37 km/h); submerged: 25 kn (46 km/h)
Range	Unlimited except by food supplies
Complement	143 (two crews)

The Resolution class was a class of four nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) built for the Royal Navy as part of the UK Polaris programme. Each submarine was armed with up to 16 UGM-27 Polaris A-3 nuclear missiles.

The class comprised Resolution, Repulse, Renown and Revenge. They were built by Vickers Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness and Cammell Laird in Birkenhead between 1964 and 1968. All four boats were based at HM Naval Base Clyde (HMS Neptune), 40 km (25 mi) west of Glasgow, Scotland.

The Resolution class was the launch platform for the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear deterrent from the late 1960s until 1996, when it was replaced by the Vanguard-class submarine carrying the Trident II.