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This HMS Sovereign was laid down on 17-February-1973, launched 11-July-1974 and claims ancestry from
previous Royal Sovereign's.
Although she does not carry the word Royal in her name as
launched, correspondence dated 11-June-1976 from the MOD to Cdr P R
Compton-Hall MBE RN (Rtd), at HMS Dolphin, advised that "... the
present Sovereign should inherit all the Battle Honours of her
ancestors." and that a new Honours Board would be manufactured and supplied
to Sovereign.
Also, when the five (later reduced to four) Polaris nuclear submarines
were built they were given traditional 'R' class battleship names, but Royal
Sovereign was omitted.
In addition early nuclear submarines were
regarded as a modern day capital ship equivalent to a Battleship and
nearly all names were former battleship ones. (More traditional submarine
names have reappeared in later classes.)
So this is just one of many strange things which happened during the
latter part of the twentieth century when British politicians tried to
wish the world at peace and unilaterally reduce British armed forces
rather than accept the world as it was.
Historically, following the restoration of the Monarchy, after Oliver
Cromwell's Commonwealth, it became the practice to re-affirm loyalty to
the crown by prefixing warships' names with 'Royal' or 'Loyal', to
commemorate some act of allegiance. For example Royal Oak, Loyal
London. Royal Sovereign is in this tradition.
Ships of
the Royal Navy have been named Sovereign of the Seas as a mark of
their great size or majesty, or just plain Sovereign. Either way they
are all manifestations of the same continuity of lineage, and form a bond
between the wooden walls of the sixteenth century and nuclear submarines
of the twenty first century.
Sovereign is a nuclear powered fleet attack submarine, in
service 2004. Little is published about her exact duties and operations.
Took part in the
Trafalgar 200 Fleet Review.
Decommissioned 11-Sep-2006
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Other HMS Sovereign
- 1st HMS
Trinity Sovereign
- 2nd HMS Royal
Sovereign
- 3rd HMS Royal
Sovereign
- 4th HMS Royal
Sovereign
- 5th HMS Royal
Sovereign
- 6th HMS Royal
Sovereign
- 7th
HMS Royal Sovereign
- 8th HMS Royal
Sovereign
- 9th HMS Sovereign
- Swiftsure Class
(1973)
SSN
- Specifications
- Ships
- Plans/Schematics
- Pictures
- Full Battle Honours
Outside Links
- Official Website
- Associated Sites
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