Boat Ends With A T: Fond Farewell To Last Submarine In Class
The end of an era was marked as the Royal Navy formally decommissioned the last operational submarine in the “T-boat” class, HMS Triumph.
Submariner, power-lifter and Navy Leaders champion Wesley McGuinness was among those present representing the Silent Service and celebrating the accomplishments of the T-boats at Friday’s ceremony at HMNB Devonport.
He wrote on social media: “A very proud day on Friday HMNB Devonport representing the Submarine Service at the decommissioning ceremonial divisions… It was an honour to stand alongside so many staunch submariners — past and present — with a great turnout to close this historic chapter. Bravo Zulu to everyone involved.”
As per a recent Royal Navy press statement, crews of the last two T-boats in service, Talent and Triumph, held Divisions at HMS Drake in Devonport, with former Trafalgar crews invited to join them.
The seven T-class submarines – which as well as the two names above were HMS Trafalgar, Turbulent, Tireless, Torbay, and Trenchant – saw active service across four decades.
Most of their activities remain classified, but among the activities of HMS Triumph in the public domain are firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Taliban in Afghanistan post-9/11 2001 and again at Colonel Gaddafi’s forces in Libya ten years on.
Taking the salute during last week’s ceremony was Captain Dave Burrell, a veteran of several T-boats, who served as Executive Officer of both Talent and Triumph, and took charge of HMS Trenchant when she visited the North Pole.
He described the submarines as “a second home” and said of his first boat, HMS Tireless: “The boat was a marvel, the people inspiring, and the mission was challenging.”
He commented: “I asked the Royal Navy’s most senior submariners how I should describe the Trafalgar class. They said simply: utterly brilliant submarines.”
HMS Triumph has been in service for 34 years, longer than any other boat in her class. Together the seven boats have collectively accumulated over two centuries of service.
They have gradually been replaced by their successors, the Astute-class submarines, a process which started in 2009 and is still ongoing. HMS Agamemnon is in the final stages of construction and will replace HMS Talent; once complete HMS Achilles will take the place of HMS Triumph, towards the end of the decade.
- You can read more details on the Royal Navy website