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45-635: The Amphion -class submarine Affray was en-route to Exercise Spring Train in June 1951 when it was lost with all 75 hands near Alderney. This edition of Spring Train was UK-based, centering on the landing of special forces troops on a Cornish beach. Spring Train later became an annual exercise for NATO naval forces, led by the Royal Navy . It was based from the British dockyard in Gibraltar with operations conducted in

90-534: A complete rebuild of the forward and after hull section, lengthening and streamlining of the upper decks and conning towers, removal of deck guns to improve underwater speed and noise, removal of external torpedo tubes, and greatly improved sonar . When Affray was lost in 1951 all the Amphion class were briefly confined to port pending investigation into her loss. During the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in

135-529: A daughter, Sasha . He was a supporter of Brexit . In 2016 he criticised the "poisoned EU debate " in the Conservative Party and suspended his party membership until there was a change of leadership. Nott spent much of his retirement restoring his 200-acre (81 ha) farm in Cornwall. He died on 6 November 2024, at the age of 92. At the time of his death, he, John Major and Malcolm Rifkind were

180-686: A night periscope were added to the A- and surviving T-class submarines. In response to the start of the Cold War in the early 1950s their target changed from surface ships to Soviet submarines. In January 1948 the primary operational function of the British submarine fleet was announced to be interception of Soviet submarines slipping out of their bases in Northern Russia, potentially to attack British and Allied merchant vessels. The following April Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Oliver circulated

225-530: A paper in which he proposed that British submarines take a more offensive role, attacking Soviet submarines off the Northern Russian coast and mining the waters in the area. With the dramatically reduced surface fleet, he commented that this was one of the few methods the Royal Navy had for "getting to the enemy on his home ground". The A and T classes were refitted for their new role between 1955 and 1960 with

270-641: A regular officer in the 2nd Gurkha Rifles , serving in the Malayan Emergency after a period of service with the Royal Scots . In 1956 he left the army to study law and economics at Trinity College, Cambridge , where he was President of the Cambridge Union Society . He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1959. In 1966 Nott was elected as a National Liberal and Conservative MP for

315-648: A task force from units on exercise and prepare to head south covertly. Woodward selected seven ships: Antrim , Glamorgan , Coventry , Glasgow , Sheffield , Arrow , Brilliant with the remainder ordered to return to British ports owing to their age or mechanical condition. There began a hurried crossdecking operation via helicopter and jackstay in which southward-bound vessels took on quantities of food, ammunition and spare parts from homeward-bound ships and in return offloaded their practice ammunition. Crew members granted leave for compassionate reasons were transferred to homeward-bound ships and replaced by volunteers from

360-626: The 1981 Defence White Paper for his decision to cut back on forward government naval expenditure during the severe economic recession of the early 1980s ; the reductions originally included the proposed scrapping of the Antarctic patrol ship HMS  Endurance and the reduction of the surface fleet to 50 frigates and from three to two aircraft carriers. He switched the resultant savings to nuclear submarines , naval weapon systems and air defence . He famously walked out of an interview with Robin Day during

405-699: The Cornwall constituency of St Ives , the last person elected under the National Liberal label. The party was formally absorbed into the Conservatives in 1968, after which Nott sat as a Conservative MP. He was the last surviving former National Liberal MP. In 1968 he was one of the few MPs to vote against the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 , thinking it "disgraceful that people who had British passports should have them taken away". Nott served in

450-671: The Falklands War , including the building of five new Type 22 frigates . He also closed Chatham Dockyard and ended the mid-life modernisation of old frigates. He took through Parliament the upgrading of the nuclear deterrent to the current Trident system (D5). Nott offered his resignation to Thatcher following the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands in 1982. Unlike the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington , however, his resignation

495-477: The Far East and Mediterranean for example—so the faster and slightly larger A class was designed to have a longer range than the T class, with accommodation suitable for longer missions. After World War II various modifications were made to these Overseas Patrol Submarines, as they were known. A snort mast based on the schnorkel used by U-boats during the war, a radar which could be used from periscope depth, and

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540-710: The Type 12M frigate Rothesay and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels Fort Grange and Olna . The 1981 exercise included a 2-week minesweeping exercise in May attended by the Ton -class minesweeper Glasserton , manned by a crew from the Royal Naval Reserve . The 1982 exercise took place off Gibraltar from late March, the vessels involved having left Britain on 17 March. Some 18 British destroyers and frigates participated in

585-803: The Type 82 destroyer Bristol ; the Type 42 destroyer Newcastle ; the Type 22 frigate Battleaxe ; the Leander -class frigates Arethusa and Euryalus ; Tribal-class frigate Zulu ; the Rothesay -class frigate Rhyl ; the Oberon -class submarine Otus ; the Swiftsure -class submarine Splendid and the support vessels RFA Olwen and Resource . A large number of Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Nimrod , Blackburn Buccaneer and SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft were also sent to RAF Gibraltar to take part. The exercise

630-457: The cabinet crisis on the future of Westland Helicopters , which severely rocked the Thatcher government. Lazard Brothers acted for Westland against Michael Heseltine's proposal for a European consortium. Among the other well-publicised events that occurred while Nott was at Lazard was the takeover of Guinness . He also served as chairman of Hillsdown Holdings , a multinational food company, and of

675-584: The 1950s, they continued to serve in the Royal Navy into the 1970s. The Amphion class were ordered by the British Admiralty in 1943, upon the realisation that the new Pacific theatre of war following the attack on Pearl Harbor needed a new type of submarine. They were originally designed to replace the S-class and T-class submarines, which were too slow and unable to dive deep enough to be suited to Pacific waters during World War II . They were essentially

720-438: The 1982 Conservative Party conference after Day referred to him as a "here today, gone tomorrow politician", although he retained a sense of humour about the incident, later naming his memoir Here Today, Gone Tomorrow . In his white paper Command 8758 "The Falkland Campaign: The Lessons", Nott announced a major rebuilding programme costing around £1 billion to replace all the ships, Harrier aircraft and helicopters lost during

765-510: The Canadian firm Maple Leaf Foods , and was deputy of Royal Insurance . In addition, he was an adviser to APAX Partners and Freshfields . Nott published his autobiography, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow in 2002. Other works included: In 1959 Nott married Miloska Sekol (born 1935), whom he met at the University of Cambridge . They had two sons (including the film composer Julian Nott ) and

810-496: The Falklands. Spartan immediately docked at Gibraltar to swap her practice torpedoes for live ones and sailed south on 1 April, within 48 hours of receiving the order. Spartan , being on exercise, was the only submarine that could immediately be tasked to sail ( Superb having been sent to the Western Approaches to investigate two reported Soviet submarines) but was later joined by others sent from HMNB Clyde . Phase 2 of

855-561: The South Atlantic. The Spring Train ships were joined at sea by four other destroyers, seven frigates, two aircraft carriers and other vessels sent from the UK. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April but Woodward's taskforce succeeded in recapturing the islands by 14 June. The Exercise Spring Train 1982 vessels Sheffield and Coventry were both sunk by Argentine air attack during

900-488: The completion of the exercise at the end of April. The 1989 exercise included the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and lasted from 1 to 21 April. Amphion-class submarine The Amphion class (also known as the "A" class and Acheron class ) of British diesel-electric submarines were designed for use in the Pacific War . Only two were completed before the end of hostilities, but following modernisation in

945-662: The deep waters of the Eastern Atlantic which were ideal for anti-submarine warfare exercises. The 1976 exercise, carried out in February, was attended by the Audacious -class aircraft carrier Ark Royal , the Tiger -class cruiser Blake and two Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels. A BBC crew, filming for the documentary series Sailor was onboard Ark Royal during the exercise. Exercise Spring Train 1977 ran from 20 to 27 February and

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990-612: The end of the war: Amphion , launched in August 1944, and Astute in January 1945; neither saw action. The Amphion class was one of only two new British submarine designs produced during World War II, the other being the X-craft 4-man submarines. Wartime experience had shown that submarines had to operate further from the United Kingdom and with larger patrol areas than had been foreseen—in

1035-732: The exercise commenced on 29 March and included high-speed firings of the Sea Dart surface-to-air missile at sea off Casablanca . The Commander-in-Chief Fleet , Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse , was observing the exercise from aboard Glamorgan . On 30 March he ordered Woodward to fly over to join him and they discussed the situation in the South Atlantic for around an hour, including what role First Flotilla would play in any taskforce. Fieldhouse then flew to Gibraltar and returned to London. On 1 April Antrim' s Wessex helicopter took part in live firing exercises. Later that day British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered Woodward, via Leach, to assemble

1080-586: The exercise including the County-class destroyers Antrim and Glamorgan ; the Type 42 destroyers Sheffield , Coventry and Glasgow ; the Type 22 frigates Brilliant , Broadsword and Battleaxe ; the Type 21 frigates Arrow and Active ; the Leander -class frigates Aurora , Ariadne , Dido and Euryalus . The Swiftsure -class submarines Spartan and Superb also attended. A number of support vessels were also present for

1125-405: The exercise, though these were removed en-route and consigned to a vessel kept outside of the conflict area. When the ships sailed Nott stated that they carried their "full range of weapons" and were "sailing under wartime orders with wartime stocks of weapons". The government stated that nuclear weapons were not applicable to the Falklands conflict but did not deny their presence. The Observer at

1170-529: The exercise, which was commanded from Antrim by Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward , whose First Flotilla provided many of the warships. Phase one of the operation, largely working-up exercises, lasted until 26 March when the vessels put into the docks at Gibraltar for rest and resupply. Tensions with Argentina over British territories in the South Atlantic had been increasing since the landing of Argentine scrap merchants in South Georgia on 19 March. On 26 March

1215-478: The expense of naval husbandry since prior to the Argentine invasion of the Falklands in 1982, the government had been unwilling to consider such a strategic risk. Time was of the essence and, by prioritising reduced public spending, the government acknowledged the more immediate risk of national bankruptcy against the less pressing strategic analysis of another war. Nott was widely criticised by Royal Navy chiefs over

1260-523: The government of Edward Heath as Minister of State at the Treasury . After a brief spell working as a City of London consultant and focusing on managing his Cornish estate, where he grew flowers commercially, he joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1976. He was made Secretary of State for Trade after Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 general election and became a Privy Councillor . The Department of Trade

1305-646: The mid-1960s, some Amphion -class submarines were fitted with either a QF 4-inch Mk XXIII gun or a single 20mm autocannon to counter blockade running junks . They were the last British submarines to carry a deck gun . The Amphion class served the Royal Navy for almost three decades as the backbone of the Royal Naval Submarine Service , and was gradually replaced with the Porpoise and Oberon patrol classes that began to be phased in during 1958. The last operational Amphion -class boat, Andrew ,

1350-407: The other two hulls being used for crush testing. The class was designed for quick construction, using an entirely welded hull which could be fabricated in sections, a technique new to Britain but standard for Nazi Germany 's U-boats . Each submarine took about 8 months from keel-laying to launching, compared with around 15 months for the earlier T class, but only two of the boats were completed before

1395-484: The other vessels; personal telegrams written by men headed south were also transferred. The operation benefitted from unusually calm seas and, with the issuing of the usual paperwork suspended, was completed within 12 hours. Six vessels sailed south on 2 April, with the remaining ship, a frigate, following on 3 April. The tankers RFA Tidespring and Appleleaf , who had participated in Spring Train, were also sent to

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1440-542: The same size as the T class, arranged for fast, simple construction and to utilize much of the materials and equipment set aside for the T boats. They had a high, flared bow for excellent sea performance and had effective air conditioning, essential for Far East submarine operations. They were operated by a crew of between 60 and 68. Originally, 46 submarines were ordered, but only 18 were launched (10 by Vickers-Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness ) and 16 commissioned ,

1485-532: The support ship RFA Fort Austin was ordered to leave the exercise and proceed to the South Atlantic to support HMS Endurance . Fort Austin eventually met with Endurance on 14 April. On 29 March the Secretary of State for Defence John Nott met with the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Henry Leach to discuss the situation. As a result of this meeting Spartan was ordered to leave Spring Train and proceed to

1530-666: The surface vessels hunting Splendid and Otus . Anti-aircraft procedures, which proved important during the Falklands War, were also practised against the RAF aircraft. The exercises were focused on two areas, one 150 miles (240 km) west of Gibraltar (in the Atlantic) and one 40 miles (64 km) east of Gibraltar (in the Mediterranean) and practice missile firings were carried out in both areas. The British vessels returned to Portsmouth at

1575-575: The time reported that nuclear weapons were almost certainly present on some of the ships and its correspondent, Andrew Wilson, claimed to have spoken to one frigate captain who refused to leave for war without his complement of tactical nuclear weapons. Wilson reported that the task force was carrying nuclear depth charges for the Westland Sea King helicopters and free-fall bombs for the Harrier jets which were part of their usual NATO equipment. Sheffield

1620-511: The war. The cancellation of Exercise Spring Train became known to Argentine intelligence via media reports from London and gave an indication that the British were preparing military action in response to the crisis. Had the Argentine invasion preparations been delayed slightly it might have hampered the British response as the Spring Train ships were due to return to British ports and their crews to be sent on Easter leave. Sheffield , for example,

1665-519: Was a British politician. A member of the National Liberal and Conservative parties, he served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1981 to 1983, during the Falklands War . Nott was born in Bromley , south-east London (part of Kent until 1965), to Richard Nott, a rice broker from a military family, and Phyllis Francis, and was educated at Bradfield College . In 1952 he was commissioned as

1710-535: Was attended by the US Navy's Knox -class frigate Miller . The next year's exercise also ran in February and was attended by the British Centaur -class aircraft carrier Hermes . HMS London participated in the 1981 exercise, one of her few sailings that year due to restrictions on fuel expenditure. She sailed from Portsmouth to Gibraltar in mid-March. Also present were the Type 42 destroyer Newcastle ,

1755-479: Was commanded by Rear Admiral Robert Gerken , Flag Officer, Second Flotilla . The Spanish government lodged a diplomatic protest against the exercise and associated ship movements; it was also objected to by the Soviet government who called it provocative. The British vessels in the exercise were shadowed by two Spanish frigates and a destroyer. Specific attention was paid during the exercise to anti-submarine warfare with

1800-458: Was decommissioned in 1974. These were the two vessels which were launched but not completed. In 1945, besides the two vessels at Devonport, the following orders were cancelled: Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness ; Vickers-Armstrongs , Walker-on-Tyne ; Portsmouth Dockyard ; Cammell Laird ; Scotts of Greenock Chatham Dockyard John Nott Sir John William Frederic Nott KCB (1 February 1932 – 6 November 2024)

1845-404: Was due to have returned to port just six days after she was ordered south. As it happened the timing of the exercise meant that the Royal Navy had many of its best ships at top operational efficiency and well positioned to head south at the time of the invasion. There is some evidence that some of the British vessels may have retained tactical nuclear weapons that they were carrying when sent from

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1890-422: Was kept outside the conflict zone. Some reports claim that Sheffield and Coventry were still carrying nuclear depth charges when sunk though Rogers considers this unlikely. Spring Train 1983, held in mid-April, saw 12 Royal Navy warships headed by the aircraft carrier Invincible , and four support vessels simulate a defence of Gibraltar against a Spanish invasion. The vessels included, besides Invincible ,

1935-510: Was not accepted. Nott remained as Defence Secretary throughout the four-month conflict. He was eventually replaced in January 1983 by Michael Heseltine after he decided not to seek re-election at the 1983 general election . On retirement he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). From 1985 to 1989 Nott was chairman and chief executive of Lazard Brothers . This coincided with

1980-537: Was reportedly one of the vessels carrying nuclear depth charges. According to Member of Parliament Tam Dalyell some of the weapons were recovered from outward bound ships by helicopter when the ships were in the Western Approaches, by a Ministry of Defence concerned about sending such a large proportion of its nuclear arsenal away from the UK. Paul Rogers claims that a number of nuclear weapons which reached Ascension Island were offloaded to RFA Regent which

2025-627: Was responsible for shipping and aviation and the privatisation of British Airways , the first privatisation of the Thatcher government . Overseeing the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection , Nott was also responsible for repealing the prices and incomes policy and played a leading role in the abolition of exchange control . In the January 1981 reshuffle Nott became Secretary of State for Defence . Short-term commitment to cost savings meant that defence decisions were made based on affordability at

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