HMS Conqueror (S48)

Conqueror was ordered on 9 August 1966 and was laid down at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 5 December 1967; she was launched on 28 August 1969.Moore 1985,  p. 617. Construction was delayed by slow working by Cammell Laird's workforce, and sabotage of the ship's gearbox, which delayed completion by several months. Conqueror was finally commissioned on 9 November 1971; she was the last nuclear submarine built by Cammell Laird.Hennessy and Jinks 2016, pp. 300–301.

Conqueror, commanded by Commander Chris Wreford-Brown, was deployed during the Falklands War, setting sail from Faslane Naval Base on the Gareloch in Scotland on 3 April 1982, one day after the Argentine invasion. Conqueror arrived in the exclusion zone around the Falkland Islands 21 days later and was ordered to scan the area for Argentine shipping, particularly the aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo ("25th of May").

On 30 April she detected, at a range of {{convert|100|nmi|km mi}} on long range sonar, a task force of the Armada de la República Argentina (ARA-Argentine Navy). The taskforce was composed of the WWII-era ex-USN light cruiser General Belgrano, and two destroyers, ARA Piedra Buena and ARA Bouchard (both also ex-United States Navy vessels). General Belgrano was originally commissioned in 1944 but significantly modernised in 1960–62 with SPS 40 LRAW radar and SQS29 sonar. By the early 1980s the ARA were no longer receiving parts from the USA to maintain these systems, but the destroyers had recently been re-armed with French Exocet anti-ship missiles. The missiles were a real threat, unlike the 6-inch (150 mm) guns on General Belgrano which only had a range of {{convert|13|mile}}. The task force was sailing southwest of the Falklands, just outside the exclusion zone imposed by the British on all shipping. With Veinticinco de Mayo approaching the islands from the north, the commander of the British carrier battle group in the South Atlantic, Rear Admiral "Sandy" Woodward, feared a pincer attack, with General Belgrano attacking from the south and Veinticinco de Mayo from the north. Woodward requested permission from his superiors to sink General Belgrano.

After some debate, permission to engage General Belgrano was sent to the submarine from the Commander-in-Chief Fleet and Task Force commander, Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse, at the Royal Navy's command centre in Northwood in the United Kingdom. In the intervening period, General Belgrano had retired from her attack position and turned west, since Veinticinco de Mayo was not yet ready to engage the British fleet. This would cause some controversy, although General Belgrano{{'}}s captain and the Argentine government acknowledged that the attack was a legitimate act of war.One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander, Admiral Sandy Woodward. 1st ed., (1992). Naval Institute Press. {{ISBN|978-0-00-215723-0}}.{{Citation | title = 'Belgrano' ordered to attack British ships on day before sinking, secret report reveals | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/belgrano-ordered-to-attack-british-ships-on-day-before-sinking-secret-report-reveals-84183.html | work = The Independent | last = Elliott | first = Francis | date = 28 December 2003 | access-date = 2 May 2020 | location = London | archive-date = 31 January 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160131231234/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/belgrano-ordered-to-attack-british-ships-on-day-before-sinking-secret-report-reveals-84183.html | url-status = live }}[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/841663.stm Belgrano legal action fails] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901032745/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/841663.stm |date=1 September 2017 }}, BBC News Report, 19 July 2000

On 2 May Conqueror became the first nuclear-powered submarine to sink an enemy surface ship using torpedoes, launching three Mark 8 torpedoes at General Belgrano and the destroyers,Conqueror was also equipped with Tigerfish torpedoes, but they had been found to be unreliable and her captain chose to use the more reliable, 55-year-old Mark 8 design two of which struck the ship and exploded. Twenty minutes later, the ship was sinking rapidly and was abandoned by her crew. General Belgrano was unable to issue a Mayday signal because of electrical failure; this and poor visibility meant the two escorting destroyers were unaware of the sinking until some hours later. A total of 323 men were killed.{{Cite book|title=Sink the Belgrano|last=Rossiter|first=Mike|publisher=Random House|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4070-3411-9|location=London|pages=305–318, 367–377|oclc=1004977305}}

Adding to the confusion, the crew of Bouchard felt an impact that was the third torpedo striking or exploding in proximity to the hull, inflicting more than minor damage with 4 gashes in the hull N. Sethia. Guardian 18 October 2000 (an examination of the ship later showed an impact mark consistent with a torpedo). The two ships continued on their course westward and began dropping depth charges. At the time, Conqueror{{'}}s officers believed they were under attack and continued to regard the two Argentine destroyers as a serious threat to the British task force and later returned to search for the Argentine warships with the aim of sinking the destroyers S.Prebble. Secrets of the Conqueror. Faber. London . 2013, p. 122 rather than searching for Belgrano survivors. By the time the Argentine destroyers realised that General Belgrano had actually foundered it was already dark and the weather had worsened, scattering the life rafts. The sinking shocked the Argentine people and the ruling dictatorship.

Conqueror{{'}}s war did not end there. The crew of the submarine had to face the Argentine Air Force which located the submarine's wake and her raised periscope on 7 May, apparently from a C130 Hercules {{convert|100|ft}} overhead at peak light, of midday S. Prebble. Secrets of the Conqueror. Faber & Faber. London 2013, p. 126 {{ISBN?}} in the short Falklands sub-Antarctic day; the Argentine Air Force may have attacked N. Sethia. Navy Net blog 14/1/2013 & Declassified file 2016 PREM 19/2017 f 174, which confirms the PM and MOD had cleared the release of info of Lt N. Sethias' unofficial and unapproved, personal log of HMS Conqueror from 29/4/82 to 6/5/82 covering the Belgrano engagement but not the subsequent Argentine attacks on 7 May or later operations HMS Conqueror the submarine then or later with US-type air-launched anti-submarine torpedoes in the days after the attack. Conqueror did not fire again for the remainder of the war, but helped the task force by using sophisticated monitoring equipment to track Argentine aircraft departing from the mainland.

After the war, Conqueror returned to Faslane, flying a Jolly Roger, a customary act of Royal Navy submarines after a kill. The flag, now in the Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport, featured an atom for Conqueror being the only nuclear submarine with a kill, crossed torpedoes for the type of weapon used, a dagger indicating a cloak-and-dagger operation, and the outline of a cruiser for what kind of ship was sunk.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/this-british-sub-hoisted-its-own-jolly-roger-after-sinking-an-argentine-cruiser/ |title=Photo of HMS Conqueror{{'}}'s Jolly Roger in the Royal Navy Submarine Museum |access-date=30 November 2021 |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130132101/https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/this-british-sub-hoisted-its-own-jolly-roger-after-sinking-an-argentine-cruiser/ |url-status=live }} When asked about the incident later, Commander Wreford-Brown responded, "The Royal Navy spent thirteen years preparing me for such an occasion. It would have been regarded as extremely dreary if I had fouled it up".Sandy Woodward, Patrick Robinson. One hundred days: the memoirs of the Falklands battle group commander, Naval Institute Press, 1992, {{ISBN|978-1-55750-651-1}}. p. 161

Later in 1982, Conqueror completed a raid to acquire a Soviet passive towed sonar array from its Polish-flagged towing vessel. The operation, a joint mission between British and American forces, was conducted on the boundary of Soviet territorial waters. Conqueror used cutters affixed to her bow to shear through the {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}} thick wire before silently returning to her base on the Clyde.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9602103/HMS-Conquerors-biggest-secret-a-raid-on-Russia.html | title=HMS Conqueror's biggest secret: a raid on Russia | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | author=Neil Tweedie | date=12 October 2012 | access-date=28 August 2014 | archive-date=16 August 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816025007/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9602103/HMS-Conquerors-biggest-secret-a-raid-on-Russia.html | url-status=live }}

On 2 July 1988 Conqueror was involved in a collision with the Army Sail Training Association yacht Dalriada south of the Mull of Kintyre. The yacht sank and four crew members were rescued.[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1988/jul/21/hms-conqueror-collision "HMS Conqueror (Collision)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102042558/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1988/jul/21/hms-conqueror-collision |date=2 November 2023 }} Hansard HC Deb 21 July 1988 vol 137 cc722-3W

File:warspiteconquerorvaliant.jpg (left) and HMS Conqueror (centre) with HMS Valiant (at rear) at HMNB Devonport Navy Days, 26 August 2006.]]

Conqueror was decommissioned in 1990 and the periscopes, captain's cabin and main control panel from the submarine's control room, and the Jolly Roger flag flown, are on display in the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport. {{asof|2019}}, Conqueror is one of over 20 nuclear submarines still held in storage by the Ministry of Defence, awaiting final disposal.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47792539|title=MoD criticised over submarine disposal|date=2019-04-03|access-date=2019-10-23|language=en-GB|archive-date=7 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207073318/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47792539|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist|1|group="note"}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1=Hennesey|first1=Peter|last2=Jinks|first2=James|title=The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945 |year=2016 |publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-241-95948-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Moore|first=John|title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86|year=1985|publisher=Jane's Yearbooks|location=London|isbn=0-7106-0814-4}}

• {{cite book |first = Mike |last = Rossiter |title = Sink the Belgrano |publisher = Bantam Press |isbn = 978-0-593-05842-8 |year = 2007}}

• [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1984/nov/07/hms-conqueror-log-book Hansard: Loss of the "control room log" of HMS Conqueror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417201553/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1984/nov/07/hms-conqueror-log-book |date=17 April 2022 }}

{{Churchill class submarine}}

{{Falklands War British ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conqueror (S48)}}

Category:Churchill-class submarines

Category:Ships built on the River Mersey

Category:Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom

Category:1969 ships