HMS Tireless (S88)
{{short description|Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Tireless}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Tireless S-88.jpg |Ship caption=HMS Tireless (S88) at the North Pole, April 2004 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=HMS Tireless |Ship namesake= |Ship owner= |Ship ordered=5 July 1979 |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Barrow-in-Furness |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=6 June 1981 |Ship launched=17 March 1984 |Ship sponsor=Sue Squires |Ship completed= |Ship commissioned=5 October 1985 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=19 June 2014 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship homeport=HMNB Devonport, Plymouth |Ship identification=Pennant number: S88 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate= |Ship status=Decommissioned[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-27915381 HMS Tireless navy submarine ends service at Devonport], bbc.com, 19 June 2014 |Ship notes= |Ship badge=100px }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Ship class={{sclass|Trafalgar|submarine|1}} |Ship type= |Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|85.4|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|9.8|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|9.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=Over {{convert|30|kn|km/h|lk=in}}, submerged |Ship test depth= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
|Ship notes= }} |
HMS Tireless was the third {{sclass|Trafalgar|submarine|0}} nuclear submarine of the Royal Navy. Tireless is the second submarine of the Royal Navy to bear this name. Launched in March 1984, Tireless was sponsored by Sue Squires, wife of Admiral 'Tubby' Squires, and commissioned in October 1985.
During the Cold War Tireless was primarily involved in anti-submarine warfare patrols in the Atlantic Ocean.{{cite web | url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2014/june/19/140619-tireless-leaves-service | title=HMS Tireless leaves active service | publisher=Royal Navy | date=19 June 2014 | access-date=21 June 2014}} After the Cold War, Tireless was deployed around the world, including to the Arctic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean. At the end of its career, Tireless was involved in the search for the missing airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The vessel experienced a number of serious accidents during its operational life.
Tireless had been scheduled for retirement during 2013, but its service was extended until eventual decommissioning on 19 June 2014. Tireless was replaced on active duty by HMS Artful.[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2005/mar/14/royal-navy-trafalgar-class-submarines Hansard HL Deb 14 March 2005 vol 670 c116WA] quoted in [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmdfence/59/5905.htm House of Commons Defence Committee - Fourth Report, 12 Dec 2006]
Operational history
From commissioning in 1985, Tireless completed numerous exercises and visits around the world, including a trip to the Arctic in 1991, before entering a refit in early 1996, returning to sea in 1999.
=Primary coolant leak=
In May 2000, Tireless developed a serious leak in the nuclear reactor primary cooling circuit, although there was no leak of radioactive material. The nuclear propulsion system was shut down and using backup diesel power Tireless made way to Gibraltar. The damage was found to be more extensive than first thought, and the boat remained there pending repairs. This created diplomatic tension between Spain and Britain, until the submarine departed on 7 May 2001 after almost a year of extensive repairwork.{{citation | url=http://www.largeassociates.com/TirelessKurskForensic.pdf | title=Forensic Assessments of the Nuclear Propulsion Plants of the Submarines HMS Tireless and RF Northern Fleet Kursk | author=John H. Large | author-link=John H. Large | publisher=Institution of Mechanical Engineers seminar: Forensic Investigation of Power Plant Failures | access-date=22 March 2007 | date=March 2005 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927034246/http://www.largeassociates.com/TirelessKurskForensic.pdf | archive-date=27 September 2007 | df=dmy-all }}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1317133.stm |title=Nuclear sub leaves Gibraltar | date=7 May 2001 |publisher=BBC News| access-date=23 May 2010}} During that year, all {{sclass|Trafalgar|submarine|1}}s were inspected for similar problems.
=Collision with iceberg=
On 13 May 2003, while on exercise in the Arctic and travelling at a depth of 60 metres, Tireless collided with an iceberg. There was no prior warning of the impending collision from passive sonar or other onboard sensors. The submarine's bow was forced down nine degrees and the vessel subsequently broke free of the iceberg at a depth of 78 metres. Some damage was sustained to the upper section of the boat. Before the incident, the Royal Navy had not conducted under-ice operations since 1996.{{cite web|author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101102/text/101102w0001.htm#10110298000032 |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 02 Nov 2010 (pt 0001) |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |access-date=31 October 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C762975E-6E2E-43A0-9B6D-901125D84878/0/summary_tireless_boi.pdf |title=Summary - BOI into the Collison of HMS Tireless on 13 May 2003 |access-date=31 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210074748/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C762975E-6E2E-43A0-9B6D-901125D84878/0/summary_tireless_boi.pdf |archive-date=10 December 2008 }}
On 19 April 2004, Tireless and {{USS|Hampton|SSN-767|6}} rendezvoused under the Arctic ice and surfaced together at the North Pole.
Tireless again angered Spain in 2004 when the boat put into Gibraltar from 9 to 15 July for what was explained as "technical reasons." Britain assured Spain that the port call was unrelated to the British celebrations, on 21 July, of the 300th anniversary of Spain handing over Gibraltar to Britain.[http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2004/07/09/espana/1089361259.html El 'Tireless' llega a la base naval de Gibraltar pese a las reiteradas protestas del Gobierno español], en diario El Mundo (spanish)
File:APLIS Camp Flags.jpg Camp]]
= March 2007 explosion =
In 2007 Tireless ventured to the North Pole with {{USS|Alexandria|SSN-757|6}} to participate in the Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station (APLIS). On 21 March, two Tireless crew members, Leading Weapons Engineer Paul McCann and Weapons Engineer 2 Anthony Huntrod (Weapons Submariner){{cite web |last=Kindell |first=Don |title=Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy, 1945-present |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas2000-present.htm |access-date=29 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129033017/http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas2000-present.htm |archive-date=29 January 2014 |url-status=dead }} were killed in an explosion on board, apparently caused by an oxygen generator candle in the forward section of the submarine.{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=C. W.|title=Degraded Modes and the 'Culture of Coping' in Military Operations: An Analysis of a Fatal Incident on-board HMS Tireless on 20/21 March 2007|url=http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~johnson/papers/JWSSC2009/Degraded_Modes.pdf}} The boat was in service near the North Pole under ICEX-07 along with the USS Alexandria and had to make an emergency surface through the ice cap. A third crewmember suffered "non life-threatening" injuries and was airlifted to a military hospital at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska.
According to the Royal Navy, the accident did not affect the submarine's nuclear reactor, and the boat sustained only superficial damage.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6478127.stm |title=Oxygen device sparked sub blast |publisher=BBC News| access-date=22 March 2007|date=22 March 2007}} Part of the exercise was being used to measure ice thickness by using sonar.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/21/uk.submarine/index.html |title=2 sailors killed in UK nuclear submarine accident|access-date=22 March 2007|publisher=CNN }} The film Stargate: Continuum—which was filming on the ice and in the Alexandria during the exercise—was dedicated to McCann and Huntrod.
=2010-2011 deployment=
File:HMS Tireless with Ramp.jpg
From 9 July 2010 to 12 May 2011, Tireless undertook a ten-month deployment, spending 253 days at sea, the longest conducted by a Royal Navy submarine in ten years.{{cite news|title = Tireless lives up to her name on ten month tour of duty|newspaper = Navy News|date = May 2011|url = http://www.navynews.co.uk/news/1178-tireless-lives-up-to-her-name-on-ten-month-tour-of-duty.aspx}}{{Dead link|date=July 2015}} During the deployment the boat passed through the Suez Canal for the first time, provided protection for the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle launching aircraft over Afghanistan, and called into the ports of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Goa in India and Souda Bay in Crete. Tireless was also involved in a multi-nation anti-submarine exercise in the Gulf of Oman which saw the Australian frigate HMAS Melbourne and the French frigate FS Dupleix attempt to locate the submarine.{{cite web|url = https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hms-tireless-in-multinational-submarine-exercise|title = HMS Tireless in multinational submarine exercise|publisher = Mod.uk|date = 13 October 2010|access-date = 31 October 2012}}
=2012 South Atlantic deployment=
In February 2012, it was reported that either Tireless or HMS Turbulent was being deployed to the Falkland Islands amid increasing tension between Argentina and the United Kingdom over sovereignty of the islands.{{cite web|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/04/falkland-islands-nuclear-submarine-sent-by-royal-navy_n_1254190.html|title = Falkland Islands: Nuclear Submarine Sent By Royal Navy To South Atlantic, According To Reports|publisher = Huffingtonpost.co.uk|date = 4 February 2012|access-date = 31 October 2012}}
However HMS Tireless surfaced in Southampton in March, conducting towed array sonar calibration and testing in the Bay of Biscay before returning to Devonport.
=2013 Coolant leak=
In early 2013 Tireless experienced a "small coolant leak that was contained within the sealed reactor compartment", requiring a return to HMNB Devonport for repair.{{cite news|url = http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Devonport-submarine-HMS-Tireless-Plymouth-reactor/story-18190113-detail/story.html|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130505063753/http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Devonport-submarine-HMS-Tireless-Plymouth-reactor/story-18190113-detail/story.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 5 May 2013|title = Devonport submarine HMS Tireless back in Plymouth after reactor coolant leak|newspaper = Plymouth Herald|date = 19 February 2013|access-date = 20 February 2013|first = Rebecca|last = Ricks}}
=2013 Mediterranean deployment=
Tireless was spotted off the Rock of Gibraltar amidst the tensions between Spain and the UK over the disputed territory of Gibraltar. It was suggested that this SSN could be a key vessel used to strike Syria if military action occurred.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23849386 | work=BBC News | title=Syria crisis: Western military options | date=30 August 2013}}
=2014 Indian Ocean search - Malaysian Airlines flight MH370=
On 1 April 2014, Tireless arrived in the southern Indian Ocean to join the search for a missing Malaysian airliner, where its sophisticated underwater listening equipment was used in an unsuccessful attempt to detect the underwater locator beacon of the aircraft's flight recorders.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26845118|title=MH370: UK submarine joins search for missing plane|work=BBC News|date=2 April 2014 }}[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-02/malaysia-airlines-mh370-search-joined-by-british-submarine/5361288 Malaysia Airlines MH370: Submarine joins search as Malaysian PM Najib Razak arrives to inspect efforts], ABC Online, 2 April 2014
= Final return to Plymouth =
On 1 June 2014 Tireless returned to Plymouth for the last time before decommissioning,{{Cite web|title = HMS Tireless returns to Plymouth for the final time before being decommissioned|url = http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/HMS-Tireless-returns-Plymouth-final-time/story-21172846-detail/story.html|access-date = 31 July 2015|date = 2 June 2014|publisher = The Herald|last = Telford|first = William|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924074830/http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/HMS-Tireless-returns-Plymouth-final-time/story-21172846-detail/story.html|archive-date = 24 September 2015|df = dmy-all}} and was formally decommissioned on 19 June.{{cite web|title=HMS Tireless leaves active service|url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/events/submarines/141019-tireless-decommission|publisher=Royal Navy|access-date=12 July 2014|date=19 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714205402/https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/events/submarines/141019-tireless-decommission|archive-date=14 July 2014}}
Tireless' final operations saw visits to Gibraltar, Crete, India, Jordan, the UAE and Australia.
Tireless was moved in 2020 to a basin within Devonport dockyard often referred to as "the graveyard".
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|HMS Tireless (S88)}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140605112640/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/submarine-service/fleet-submarines/trafalgar-class/hms-tireless Royal Navy HMS Tireless] (royalnavy.mod.uk)
{{Trafalgar class submarine}}
{{2003 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tireless (S88)}}
Category:Trafalgar-class submarines
Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Category:Cold War submarines of the United Kingdom
Category:British submarine accidents
Category:Maritime incidents in 2007
Category:Vessels involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370