The mid-1950s development of the submarine-launched Polaris ballistic missile by Lockheed and the US Navy led to the eventual signing of a Polaris Sales Agreement between Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and President John F Kennedy.
It was decided than the United Kingdom would have four Polaris submarines to carry the latest A-3 missiles; that the submarines would be British designed and built; that the whole weapon systems and equipment, except warheads, would be purchased from the United States; and that the warheads would be British. The Government directive was explicit; the four SSBNs (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear) were to be deployed at the earliest possible date and the programme executed within the allotted budget. 'A challenge had been issued and a challenge was going to be met'.
THE BUILD PROGRAMME
The programme was authorized in February 1963; the submarines were to be built in pairs, with maximum speed, by Vickers (acting as Lead Yard) and Cammell Laird. An order for a fifth SSBN was announced in 1964, but was cancelled by a new Labour Government the following year. The keel of the first-of-class, HMS Resolution, was laid down at Barrow on 26th February, 1964, and represented for Vickers the sternest test the yard had had for many a year.
