HMS Renown (S26): Launched by the Defence Secretary's Wife

Laid Down at Birkenhead

HMS Renown was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, launched on 25 February 1967 by Edna Healey, wife of the then Defence Secretary Denis Healey, and commissioned on 15 November 1968, the third of the Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines that formed the backbone of Britain's Polaris nuclear deterrent, measuring 425 feet overall.

A Rocky Start

Renown's early career was marked by a genuine run of mishaps. She struck a dock entrance during sea trials in February 1969, and that October collided with the merchant vessel Moyle in the Irish Sea, an incident serious enough that her commanding officer was found guilty of hazarding the submarine and relieved of command.

She became operational that November regardless, before striking the seabed during Scottish sea trials in 1974, causing structural damage that required repair.

Carrying the Chevaline Upgrade

Renown conducted test firings of the upgraded Chevaline missile system in early 1982, becoming fully operational with the new capability later that year, part of the significant modernisation programme that extended the credibility of Britain's Polaris deterrent through the final years of the Cold War.

The End of Her Service

HMS Renown was decommissioned on 24 February 1996, having spent much of 1995 forced to remain alongside at Faslane due to the age-related defects that were, by then, affecting the entire ageing Resolution class, bringing to a close nearly three decades of nuclear deterrent patrols.