HMS Resolution (S22): The Boat That Began Britain's Nuclear Deterrent

Barrow-Built

HMS Resolution was built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, ordered in May 1963 at a cost of £40.2 million, launched on 15 September 1966 in a ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and commissioned on 2 October 1967, the first of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines and the boat that pioneered Britain's Polaris-based nuclear deterrent.

Two Crews, One Boat

Resolution became the first Royal Navy submarine to operate with two dedicated crews, known as port and starboard, allowing her to remain almost continuously available for patrol while each crew rotated through periods of leave and training, a model that has underpinned Britain's continuous at-sea deterrent ever since.

A Career Defined by Patrols

Resolution began extensive deterrent patrols from June 1968 onward, and in 1991 achieved the longest patrol of any Polaris submarine, spending an extraordinary 108 days at sea. During the Falklands War, she completed a demanding 72-day patrol while evading Soviet submarine activity, a reminder that the deterrent mission continued uninterrupted even while Britain was fighting a separate war thousands of miles away.

Across her career, Resolution completed 69 patrols in total, and was upgraded with the Chevaline missile system in 1984, extending the credibility of her deterrent capability through the final years of the Cold War.

A Long Wait for Final Disposal

HMS Resolution was decommissioned on 22 October 1994 after 26 years of service, and remains today in the main basin at Rosyth, intact but with her reactor defuelled, awaiting a final decommissioning decision from the Ministry of Defence, a quiet postscript for the submarine that started it all.