§ Sir Patrick Wallasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he is satisfied with the refit in Devonport dockyard of HMS "Swiftsure".
§ Mr. BlakerThe refit of HMS "Swiftsure" is the first of its class of SSNs which are substantially different from earlier boats. It is also the first SSN refit at Devonport and, pending completion of the submarine refit complex, much of the work has had to be accomplished using interim106W facilities. The refit was badly affected by the Civil Service dispute last year and, not unexpectedly for a first of class refit, a number of technical problems have arisen.
The dockyard remains confident of meeting the recently announced revised target completion date of March 1983. "Sovereign" was taken in hand in January 1982 and her refit is progressing satisfactorily. The third SSN refit at Devonport, "Conqueror", will commence in early 1983 as planned.