HMS Trafalgar (S107)

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HMS Trafalgar is a decommissioned Template:Sclass of the Royal Navy. Unlike the rest of the Trafalgar-class boats that followed, she was not launched with a pump-jet propulsion system, but with a conventional 7-bladed propeller.<ref name="Graham, Ian 1989, page 12">Graham, Ian, Attack Submarine, Gloucester Publishing, Oct 1989, page 12. Template:ISBN</ref> Trafalgar was the fifth vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, after the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.

Operational history

In 2012 a Royal Navy submariner was jailed for 8 years for trying "to pass secrets to the Russians that could have undermined Britain's national security"; one element of this was information on "a secret operation undertaken by HMS Trafalgar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Combat history

After Operation Veritas, the attack on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces following the September 11 attacks in the United States, Trafalgar entered Plymouth Sound flying the Jolly Roger on 1 March 2002. She was welcomed back by Admiral Sir Alan West, Commander-in-Chief of the fleet and it emerged she was the first Royal Navy submarine to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles against Afghanistan.<ref>Trafalgar Returns</ref>

Grounding incidents

In July 1996, Trafalgar grounded near the Isle of Skye in Scotland.<ref>House of Commons Hansard Written Answers (publications.parliament.uk)</ref>

In November 2002, Trafalgar again ran aground close to the Isle of Skye, causing £5 million worth of damage to her hull and injuring three sailors. She was travelling 50 metres below the surface at more than 14 knots when Lieutenant-Commander Tim Green, a student in the "Perisher" course for new submarine commanders, ordered a course change that took her onto the rocks at Fladda-chuain, a small but well-charted islet. Commander Robert Fancy, responsible for navigation, and Commander Ian McGhie, an instructor, both pleaded guilty at court-martial to contributing to the accident. On 9 March 2004 the court reprimanded both for negligence. Green was not prosecuted, but received an administrative censure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2008 it was reported that the crash was caused by the chart being used in the exercise being covered with tracing paper, to prevent students marking it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Decommissioning

Trafalgar was decommissioned on 4 December 2009 at Devonport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Royal Navy HMS Trafalgar (royalnavy.mod.uk)
• MaritimeQuest HMS Trafalgar pages (maritimequest.com)
• The BBC - Pictures of Trafalgar's final voyage (news.bbc.co.uk)