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As Swiftsure-class submarine HMS Sceptre left Rosyth
at the end of March this year, she marked the end of an
era
as the last submarine to be refitted at Rosyth.
After six years spent in refit at Rosyth Royal Naval Dockyard,
Sceptre returned to her base port of Faslane with a crowd
of wellwishers and families to greet her on the Helensburgh
shoreline.
Since her massive period of maintenance began on May 5, 1997,
millions of pounds have been spent on equipping Sceptre to
deal with the demands of modern-day warfare well into this
century.
Sceptre was the Royal Navy’s tenth nuclear submarine,
and is fitted with the latest weapons and sensors including
Spearfish torpedoes and Sub-Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
Able to produce her own fresh water, oxygen and electricity,
and therefore totally independent of the earth’s natural
atmosphere, Sceptre can remain dived for many weeks and if
necessary circumnavigate the globe underwater.
The current HMS Sceptre is the sixth Naval vessel to carry
the name, and the second submarine.
The first was a third-rate frigate, launched at Rotherhithe
in June 1781, and despatched to the East India squadron where
she took part in a number of battles, capturing the French
corvette Naiade.
She also saw action in the Caribbean and won her second battle
honour in 1795 capturing a Dutch squadron. She ended her
days as a shipwreck in Table Bay.
The next Sceptre was a Repulse-class third rate, launched
at Deptford in December 1802, and broken up 19 years later.
The third was a two-shaft R-class destroyer built in Glasgow
in 1917 as part of the Emergency War Programme. She served
with Admiral Beatty’s force, mainly in convoy escort
and patrol duties in the North Sea and Atlantic.
In common with this month’s Aircraft of the Royal Navy,
the third Sceptre brought down a German Zeppelin, and later
the same year in 1917 she sank an armed German trawler.
Before the arrival of the first submarine Sceptre, a motor
fishing vessel, the Virginia, was hired for use as a harbour
defence patrol craft during the early years of World War
II, and bore the name Sceptre.
After the S-class submarine was built at Greenock in 1943,
the submarine’s claim for the name was superior and
the former Virginia was renamed once more to become HMS Orb.
Broken up in 1949 the submarine Sceptre pursued an active
career through World War II, sinking six ships in total – four
merchant vessels and two escorts.
Her career began in the 3rd Submarine Flotilla at Holy Loch,
but was nearly brought to an abrupt and early end when she
was depth-charged by the RAF.
Undaunted, but slightly buckled, after repairs Sceptre returned
to the fray, notable for her role in special operations with
the X-craft midget submarines.
(Ship of the Month August 2003)
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