The Royal Navy Submarine Fleet consists of two distinctly different types of vessel.
At 5,500 tonnes the Fleet Submarines, SSN (Ship Submersible Nuclear) are extremely sophisticated machines, providing land attack support, anti ship and submarine warfare, reconnaissance and surveillance. The Vanguard Class SSBN (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear) provides the United Kingdom's strategic and sub-strategic nuclear deterrent. These 16,000 tonne vessels stay at sea for months at a time, remaining submerged and undetected whilst on patrol.
Both classes of submarine are crewed by an excess of 120 men. Maintaining a habitable working environment for the crew when there is no natural air, and surrounding temperatures reach extremes, presents a unique challenge for those controlling the atmosphere.
YORK Marine Systems has designed and manufactured water chillers for use in all past, present and projected nuclear powered submarines in the Royal Navy fleet. The equipment supplied includes reciprocating, centrifugal and screw chillers ranging in capacities from 200 – 700kW. In addition YORK has supplied refrigeration plant, for both cool and freezer rooms.
All equipment is built to the most stringent specifications, particularly with regard to minimizing noise and vibration emissions, thereby maintaining stealth and minimizing the possibility of detection.
Supplying equipment to the Royal Navy is a long-term commitment, providing continuous support for the lifetime of the vessel. Recently YORK has retro-fitted many older plants within the fleet to operate on environmentally acceptable alternatives to previously used ozone depleting CFCs.
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