Career
Laid down:	5 December 1967
Launched:	18 August 1969
Commissioned:	9 November 1971
Decommissioned:	2 August 1990
General characteristics
Displacement:	4,900 tonnes (submerged)
Length:	86. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Events 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) 9 m
Beam:	10. 1 m
Draught:	8. 2 m
Propulsion:	One Rolls-Royce PWR nuclear reactor, one shaft
Speed:	28 knots (submerged)
Range:	Limited only by food stored on board
Complement:	103
Armament:	6 x 533 mm tubes capable of firing: Mark 8 torpedoes Tigerfish torpedoes RN Sub Harpoon Missiles

HMS Conqueror was a Churchill-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine that served in the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1990. The Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR series has powered British Nuclear submarines since the ''Valiant'' class, commissioned in 1966 This article is a subarticle of Nuclear power. A nuclear reactor is a device in which Nuclear chain reactions are initiated controlled The list of torpedoes includes all Torpedoes operated in the past or present listed alphabetically The Mk 24 Tigerfish torpedo is a heavy Acoustic homing Torpedo used by the Royal Navy for several years The Harpoon is an all-weather over-the-horizon, Anti-ship missile system developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Integrated Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship powered by a Nuclear reactor. A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) She was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British Shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries came about following the merger of Laird Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. As of 2008, she is the only nuclear-powered submarine to have engaged an enemy ship with torpedoes, sinking the cruiser ARA General Belgrano with two mark 8 torpedoes. General history The warship was built as, the sixth of the s in New Jersey by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation starting in 1935 and launched in March 1938 The list of torpedoes includes all Torpedoes operated in the past or present listed alphabetically She is one of only two submarines which have sunk a warship since World War II, the other being the Pakistani Navy's PNS Hangor. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and PNS Hangor was a Pakistani Daphné class submarine, which during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War sank the Indian frigate

Conqueror was the third of the class, the other two being Churchill and Courageous. The main aim of these submarines was to face the Soviet threat at sea by attacking other ships and submarines, and spying on Soviet nuclear-armed submarine movements. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

However, Conqueror, commanded by Cdr Chris Wreford-Brown, was most famously deployed during the Falklands War, setting sail from Faslane Naval Base on the River Clyde in Scotland on 3 April 1982, one day after the Argentine invasion. The Falklands War (Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the Along with HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth, Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB Clyde is one of the Royal Navy 's three operational bases The River Clyde ( Gaelic: Abhainn Chluaidh, avɪɲˈxɫ̪uəj is a major River in Scotland. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Conqueror arrived in the exclusion zone around the Falklands twenty-one days later. She was ordered to scan the area for Argentine shipping, particularly the Argentine aircraft carrier, ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (the 25th of May). An aircraft carrier is a Warship designed with History The ship was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, England during the Second World War for the Royal Navy However, on 30 April, she spotted the Argentine light cruiser, ARA General Belgrano. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule A light cruiser is a Warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light Armoured cruiser " describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way General history The warship was built as, the sixth of the s in New Jersey by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation starting in 1935 and launched in March 1938 Belgrano was sailing southwest of the Falklands, just outside the exclusion zone imposed by the British on Argentine shipping and approaching the Task Force, while the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was approaching from the north. History The ship was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, England during the Second World War for the Royal Navy British admiral, Rear Admiral J. F. Woodward, requested permission from the British government to sink Belgrano. Admiral Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward GBE, KCB (born May 1, 1932) is a British Admiral who joined After some debate he was allowed to proceed, though while this was going on the Belgrano retired from its attack position since the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was not ready. History The ship was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, England during the Second World War for the Royal Navy Finally, the message to engage the 'Belgrano' was sent from Northwood, the Royal Navy's fleet command centre in the United Kingdom to Conqueror. Northwood Headquarters is a Military Headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces in Eastbury, Three Rivers, Hertfordshire

The basis for this decision was that the Royal Navy feared a pincer-style attack with Belgrano attacking from the south, and the Veinticinco de Mayo from the north. Also Belgrano could have escaped from Conqueror by sailing across nearby shallow waters, and it could have then attacked the British Task Force.

ARA General Belgrano sinking after being hit by torpedoes from Conqueror

The scene was now set, and on 2 May Conqueror became the first nuclear-powered submarine to fire in anger when she launched three mark 8 torpedoes at Belgrano,^[1] two of which struck the ship and exploded. General history The warship was built as, the sixth of the s in New Jersey by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation starting in 1935 and launched in March 1938 Events 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. The list of torpedoes includes all Torpedoes operated in the past or present listed alphabetically Twenty minutes later, the ship was sinking rapidly and was abandoned by the crew. The two escorting destroyers fled the scene under fear of further attack. In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy 323 men were killed.

Conqueror's war did not end there. The crew of the submarine had to face Argentine Air Force attempts to locate the boat in the days after the attack, which had shocked the Argentine people and ruling dictatorship. The Argentine Air Force ( Fuerza Aérea Argentina or FAA) is the national aviation branch of the Armed forces of Argentina. Conqueror did not fire again in anger throughout the war, but the crew did provide valuable help to the task force by using their sophisticated monitoring equipment to track Argentine aircraft departing the mainland.

After the war, Conqueror returned to Faslane, flying the Jolly Roger, a customary act of Royal Navy submarines after a "kill". The Jolly Roger is the name given to any of various Flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates The flag most usually identified as the Jolly Roger today When asked about the incident later, Cdr Wreford-Brown responded, "The Royal Navy spent thirteen years preparing me for such an occasion. It would have been regarded as extremely dreary if I had fouled it up. "

HMS Warspite (left) and HMS Conqueror (centre) with HMS Valiant (at rear) at HMNB Plymouth Navy Days August 26th 2006.

Conqueror did not take part in any other official conflicts, and was decommissioned in 1990. The periscope of the submarine can be viewed in the Royal Navy's museum in Gosport. A periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position History The Rowner area of the peninsula was known to have been settled in Saxon times mentioned in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles as Rughenor (Rough bank or slope

Further reading

• Rossiter, Mike (2007). Sink the Belgrano. Bantam Press.  

Footnotes