October 1960 - HMS Dreadnought, the UK's first nuclear submarine

In October 1960 Queen Elizabeth II continued a tradition that began in Barrow-in-Furness in 1886 and continues to this day at a site that is only one of a handful worldwide capable of building nuclear submarines.

In 1886 the steam powered Abdül Hamid launched in Cumbria before entering service with the Ottoman Navy and by 1901 the first Holland-class submarines were launched from the site for the Royal Navy.

On Trafalgar Day, 1960, the UK saw the launch of its first nuclear-powered submarine and it would bear a name as steeped in navy tradition as the Barrow site itself.

She was ninth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Dreadnought, the first having fought against the Spanish Armada and the fifth present at Trafalgar. The seventh was one of the first iron-clad turret ships, and the eighth was the first large warship to have turbine machinery.

HMS Dreadnought was unique to the Royal Navy as it was the first built with nuclear propulsion but it was several years behind the US whose own navy had no fewer than 56 nuclear powered warships built, under construction or authorised, including 53 submarines.