Written question asked by Lord Davies of Stamford (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 January 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 5 February 2001. It was answered by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Monday, 5 February 2001 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a statement on the state of readiness and expected date of return to full serviceability of each of the Royal Navy's S and T class submarines.

Answer: Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the state of readiness and expected date of return to full serviceability of each of the Royal Navy's S and T class submarines. [147570] Mr. Spellar: HMS Triumph, a Trafalgar class submarine, is ready for operations (although currently undergoing short-term maintenance) and the remaining S and T class submarines are at 90 days or more notice for operations undergoing either defect repair or long-term maintenance. We anticipate that eight submarines (Superb, Sceptre, Splendid, Trafalgar, Tireless, Torbay, Turbulent and Talent) will be available for operations by the end of this year, at which time the current operational boat, HMS Triumph, will be undergoing maintenance. The remaining three submarines (Sovereign, Spartan and Trenchant) will be in longer-term maintenance or refit. The exact state of readiness of individual submarines is withheld under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 362 c358W; 147570
Session: 2000-01
Subjects: Deployment Repairs and maintenance Submarines Trafalgar class submarines
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk