HMS Courageous (S50)
 Decommissioned HMS Courageous | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | HMS Courageous |
| Laid down: | 15 May 1968 |
| Launched: | 7 March 1970 |
| Commissioned: | 16 October 1971 |
| Decommissioned: | 10 April 1992 |
| Motto: |
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| Fate: | Museum ship |
| Badge: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Churchill-class submarine |
| Displacement: | 4,900 tonnes (submerged) |
| Length: | 86.9 m (285 ft 1 in) |
| Beam: | 10.1 m (33 ft 2 in) |
| Draught: | 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion: | One nuclear reactor, one shaft |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 103 |
| Armament: |
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| Service record | |
| Operations: | Falklands War |
HMS Courageous (S50) was a Churchill-class nuclear fleet submarine in service with the Royal Navy from 1971.
In 1982, the Courageous was sent with her sister ship, HMS Conqueror, with the British task force to retake the Falkland Islands from the occupying Argentine forces. She returned home later in the year without damage.
The Courageous was retired from service in 1992. She is now a museum ship at Devonport Dockyard.
During the HMNB Devonport Navy Days 2006, one of the members of the team restoring HMS Courageous pointed out that HMS Valiant was one of the first Royal Navy submarines to have her reactor removed (hence the box-like structures, visible in the photograph on the HMS Valiant page, which penetrate deep into the pressure hull. Later attempts on other vessels didn't require these structures). As the Valiant had been cosmetically wrecked by this work, HMS Courageous was selected for the museum ship to represent the SSN fleet of the Royal Navy during the Cold War. Components were removed from HMS Valiant to restore Courageous.
HMS Courageous was due to be moved in 2007 from her current berth to a new berth, due to development of the HMNB Devonport area where she resided.
External links
- HMS Courageous Society website - Click here for society news, Courageous history and shop.
- Royal Navy website - HMS Courageous page
References
HMS Courageous: A Cold War Veteran. Published by the Courageous Society 2008.
Coordinates: 50°22′13.30″N 4°11′02.12″W / 50.3703611°N 4.1839222°W