HMS Vigilant (S30): Home to the Letter of Last Resort

The Build: Barrow

HMS Vigilant was built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow-in-Furness, laid down on 16 February 1991, launched in October 1995 and commissioned in November 1996, the third of the Royal Navy's four Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines, carrying sixteen missile tubes for Trident II D5 missiles alongside four torpedo tubes for Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes and an extensive sonar and radar suite.

The Letter of Last Resort

In 2007, a correspondent from BBC Radio 4's Today programme was given rare access aboard Vigilant and documented the existence of the letter of last resort, the sealed instructions written by the Prime Minister and kept in the submarine's command safe, to be opened only in the event that the government of the United Kingdom has been destroyed, one of the more solemn and rarely discussed aspects of the entire deterrent programme.

A Major Refit and a Missile Test

Vigilant arrived on 11 October 2008 for a major £300 million refit at Devonport, returning to service on 27 March 2012, and in 2013 successfully test-fired a Trident D5 missile for the first time in three years, a significant milestone confirming her continued capability after such an extensive period of maintenance.

A Difficult 2017

In 2017, Vigilant found herself at the centre of a properly serious personnel scandal: her captain was relieved of command following allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a female crew member, her executive officer was similarly removed, and nine crew members were dismissed after testing positive for cocaine use, a difficult chapter that stood in sharp contrast to the quiet discipline the deterrent mission is meant to embody.

Vigilant returned safely from patrol shortly before Christmas 2016, continuing her role in the Royal Navy's continuous at-sea deterrent despite the troubles that followed.