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Ballistic Submarines
HMS Vengeance

HMS Vengeance

HMS Vengeance is the youngest of the four strategic missile submarines that make up the UK nuclear deterrent force. One of her patrols could, in theory, last for years as she has constant power and produces her own water and oxygen – the only thing that limits her is storage space for food. As the last 'bomber' out of Barrow – the boat was launched on 19 October 1998 – she will also be the last to undergo a mid-life overhaul at Devonport, during which time her nuclear reactor will receive its first and only refuel.

HMS Vengeance _4

  • HMS Vengeance _1

  • HMS Vengeance _2

  • HMS Vengeance _3

COMMANDING OFFICER

Paul Blythe

Paul Blythe
RANK:
Commander
JOINED:
1987
SPECIALISATION:
Warfare
PREVIOUS UNITS:
HMS Victorious, Turbulent, Trenchant, Triumph, Vengeance
Military experience

Paul Blythe joined the Royal Navy as a Naval College Entrant in January 1987 and completed his sea-based training in HM Ships Fife, Bulldog, Brave and Anglesey.

On completion of his Officer of the Watch course, he proceeded to HMS Dolphin for submarine training and joined HMS Turbulent as the Casing Officer at the start of a very busy operational period.

In 1991, he joined HMS Opossum as the Navigation and Operations Officer, enjoying patrols in the Mediterranean and the first visit by a British submarine to the USSR since the Second World War.

After navigating, Paul returned to the submarine school in 1993 and taught warfare tactics to future submarine navigators.

Attendance on the Advanced Warfare Course followed in 1995 which lead to 3 Watch Leader appointments; initially as the Sonar Officer of HMS Victorious (Port), completing her first 3 deterrent patrols and then moving to HM Submarines Trenchant and Triumph as the Operations Officer. His time on the ‘T’ boats varied between ASW patrols, intelligence gathering and the introduction of the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile capability. These patrols and exercises spread from the North Atlantic, through the Mediterranean, into the Gulf and out to the Far East.

Leaving HMS Triumph in Singapore, he returned to successfully complete the Submarine Command Course, or “Perisher”, in 2000 and subsequently took up his position as the Executive Officer of HMS Sovereign.

In 2004, Paul moved ashore to become the nuclear deterrent operations officer within the Fleet Operations Headquarters, Northwood. Responsible for planning and supporting UK sensitive submarine operations, he particularly enjoyed the strategic considerations and implications that such patrols warrant.

In 2007, he changed tack away from operations and into personnel. In what he considers to be one of his most rewarding posts, he became the Career Manager to nearly 300 Submarine Warfare Officers, relishing the challenge of re-building a cadre that was under exceptional pressure from manpower shortages and a very high operational tempo.

Promoted to Cdr in 2009, Paul attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham where he completed an MA in International Defence Studies.

He was subsequently appointed Commanding Officer, HMS Vengeance (Port) in November 2010 and conducted the final patrol, taking her out of operational service and in to overhaul in 2012.

Re-assigned to HMS Vanguard (Starboard) in May 2012, Paul returns to deterrent operations.


LATEST NEWS

 

TOP STORIES

Vanguard
£350M Contracts for Design of Future Nuclear Deterrent Submarines
22 May 2012

The MoD has awarded contracts worth £350 million to UK...

HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade
£350M Nuclear Submarine Upgrade To Secure 2,000 UK Jobs
26 March 2012

The future of 2,000 British jobs will be secured following...

Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp
Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp
01 March 2012

One of the Britain’s most potent weapons is bowing out...

HMS VENGEANCE FAMILIES DAY
Families and Friends at diving stations as submarine prepares for sea
24 October 2011

Friends and family of the crew of Royal Navy submarine,...

View all Vengeance's News

ABOUT THE UNIT

KEY STATISTICS


Pennant

S31

Displacement (Dived)

15,900Tonnes

Displacement (Surfaced)

14,891Tonnes

Complement

135Personnel

Length

149.9Metres

Beam

12.8Metres

Draught

12Metres

Top Speed

25Knots

Number of Officers

14

Launch Date

19/10/98

Commissioned Date

27/11/99

TAKE A LOOK

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      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      HMS Vengeance in dock at Devonport.

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      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      HMS Vengeance in dock at Devonport.

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      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      Defence Secretary addresses the Submarine crew and Babcock staff.

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      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond chats with the crew of HMS Vengeance.

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      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond addresses Sub crew and Babcock workers.

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      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      HMS Vengeance departs for Devonport prior to re-fit.

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      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      HMS Vengeance departs for Devonport prior to re-fit.

    • image

      HMS Vengeance £350m Upgrade

      HMS Vengeance departs for Devonport prior to re-fit.

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      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

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      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      HMS Vengeance returns to HMNB Clyde, after completing Operational Sea Training. The trials were conducted in Scottish exercise areas.

    • image

      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

    • image

      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

    • image

      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

    • image

      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

    • image

      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

    • image

      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

    • image

      Farewell Vengeance, hello Vigilant as submarines trade places in £600m revamp

      The crew and family members of Clyde-based submarine, HMS Vengeance, marked the vessel’s “de-dedication” during a ceremony on Saturday, February 18.

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      HMS VENGEANCE FAMILIES DAY

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      HMS VENGEANCE FAMILIES DAY

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      HMS VENGEANCE FAMILIES DAY

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      HMS VENGEANCE FAMILIES DAY

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      HMS Vengeance _1

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      HMS Vengeance _2

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      HMS Vengeance _3

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      HMS Vengeance _4

UNITS IN TIME


HMS Vengeance HISTORY

TRACK THE HISTORY OF SHIPS NAMED HMS Vengeance
  • The First Vengeance

    The first was a 28-gun 6th Rate frigate, captured by HMS Hussar from the French off the Lizard in February 1758. She fought in one of the key battles in the Seven Years War with France, when a British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke destroyed a French invasion force heading for Ireland in foul weather and treacherous waters in Quiberon Bay. She was sunk in October 1766 as a breakwater off Plymouth.

  • Three Vengeances

    Around the turn of the 19th century three Vengeances existed concurrently. A 74-gun 3rd Rate ship of the line was the first, launched in June 1774 at Rotherhithe, and one of her greatest battles was with Mother Nature, surviving the Great Storm of 1780, with just the loss of her masts. After winning battle honours in the Caribbean during the French Revolutionary War she was converted to a prison ship in 1808 and broken up at Portsmouth in 1816.

  • The Fourth Vengeance

    A Dutch hoy, bought by the Admiralty in November 1793 and used as a tender, was also named Vengeance and remained in service until late 1804, by which time the fourth Vengeance, a 4th Rate 50-gun, had been captured in the Mona Passage, in August 1800. She was damaged when stranded in 1801 and some records indicate she was broken up within a couple of years, though others state she was used as a prison hulk in Jamaica until 1814.

  • Vengeance Number Five

    The longest-serving Vengeance was number five, a 2nd Rate 84-gun, which commissioned at Pembroke in July 1824 and was finally sold in May 1897, more than 70 years later, having won a battle honour in the Crimean War. From 1861 until her disposal she acted as a receiving ship at Portsmouth.

  • The Sixth Vengeance

    The sixth Vengeance was a 13,000-ton Canopus-class pre-Dreadnought battleship launched at Vickers at Barrow in July 1899 which saw service in home waters and on the China Station before World War 1.

  • Number 6 in Action

    She won the Dardanelles battle honour in 1915, and also served off Africa, but by the end of the war she had been used for experimental gunnery duties and by May 1918 was an ammunition store ship.

  • Disappearing Act

    She was sold for scrap in December 1921, and while on tow to Dover her towline parted and she disappeared briefly in the Channel, until tugs found her and resumed her final passage.

  • Vengeance Number Seven

    Vengeance number seven was a Colossus-class light Fleet carrier of just over 13,000 tons, built by Swan Hunter in 1944, which entered service at the end of World War 2. As part of the British Pacific Fleet, then as Admiral Harcourt's flagship, she witnessed the surrender of Hong Kong in September 1945, then acted as an aircraft ferry, research ship and training carrier until she was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy between 1952 and 1955.

  • Sold to Brazil

    From there she was sold to Brazil in 1956, re-commissioning in 1960 as the Minas Gerais, and served until 2001 –the last of her type still in service.

  • Sold for Scrapping

    Efforts were made by ex-Service associations to preserve this last World War 2-era carrier as a memorial ship, but sufficient funds could not be raised and she was sold for scrapping in India in 2004.

Current Jobs

Defence Technical Non Grade Scheme (Marine Engineering)

The engineering branch includes weapons  marine and air engineering. Marine Engineers manage the repair and maintenance of the ships electrical and mechanical systems alongside and at sea.  Later in your career you will become involved in the procurement and building...
More info

Marine Engineering Grad Entry

The Engineering Branch includes weapons, marine and air engineering. Marine Engineers manage the repair and maintenance of the ships mechanical and hydraulic systems alongside and at sea. Later in your career you will become involved in the procurement and building of...
More info

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