British Submarines in the Cold War Era

Norman Friedman

• Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526771254
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The first comprehensive technical history on the subject, with photos: "A must-read for all professionals, designers and scholars of modern submarines." —Australian Naval Institute
 
The Royal Navy's greatest contribution to the Allied success in World War II was undoubtedly the defeat of the U-boat menace in the North Atlantic, a victory on which all other European campaigns depended. The underwater threat was the most serious naval challenge of the war, so it was not surprising that captured German submarine technology became the focus of attention for the British submarine service after 1945. It was quick to test and adopt the schnorkel, streamlining, homing torpedoes, and, less successfully, hydrogen-peroxide propulsion. Furthermore, in the course of the long Atlantic battle, the Royal Navy had become the world's most effective anti-submarine force and was able to utilize this expertise to improve the efficiency of its own submarines.
 
However, in 1945 German submarine technology had also fallen into the hands of the Soviet Union—and as the Cold War developed it became clear that a growing Russian submarine fleet would pose a new threat. Britain had to go to the US for its first nuclear propulsion technology, but the Royal Navy introduced the silencing technique that made British and US nuclear submarines viable anti-submarine assets, and it pioneered in the use of passive—silent—sonars in that role. Nuclear power also changed the role of some British submarines, which replaced bombers as the core element of British Cold War and post-Cold War nuclear deterrence.
 
As in other books in this series, this one shows how a combination of evolving strategic and tactical requirements and new technology produced successive types of submarines. It is based largely on unpublished and previously classified official documentation, and to the extent allowed by security restrictions, also tells the operational story—HMS  Conqueror is still the only nuclear submarine to have sunk a warship in combat, but there are many lesser-known aspects of British submarine operations in the postwar era.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Book Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• ABBREVIATIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• CHAPTER 1 RN SUBMARINES AFTER 1945
• CHAPTER 2 YEAR ZERO: 1945
• CHAPTER 3 SONAR AND SOUND IN THE SEA
• CHAPTER 4 INTERIM SUBMARINES: CONVERSIONS
• CHAPTER 5 THE FAST BATTERY SUBMARINE
• CHAPTER 6 THE HTP ADVENTURE
• CHAPTER 7 GOING NUCLEAR
• CHAPTER 8 THE STRATEGIC SUBMARINE
• CHAPTER 9 NEW-GENERATION NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINES
• CHAPTER 10 REVIVING THE DIESEL SUBMARINE
• CHAPTER 11 BRITISH COLD WAR SUBMARINES IN ACTION
• CHAPTER 12 AFTER THE COLD WAR
• APPENDIX A BRITISH SUBMARINE SONARS/ASDICS
• APPENDIX B COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
• APPENDIX C SUBMARINE WEAPONS
• CHAPTER D MIDGET SUBMARINES
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• SUBMARINE DATA
• SUBMARINE LIST
• INDEX
• BACK COVER