Rolls-RoycePWR1nuclear reactor
2 × GEC turbines
1 × shaft pump jet 15,000 hp (11 MW)
motor for emergency drive
emergency retractable propellor
2 × W H Allen turbo generators 2 MW
2 × Paxman diesel alternators 2,800 hp (2.1 MW)
Speed:
Dived: 32 knots (59 km/h)
Complement:
18 officers
112 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems:
Ferranti/Gresham Dowty DCB/DCG
Type 2072 hull-mounted flank array passive sonar Plessey Type 2020 or Marconi/Plessey Type 2074 hull-mounted active and passive search and attack sonar
Ferranti Type 2046 towed array passive search sonar Thomson Sintra Type 2019 PARIS or Thorn EMI 2082 passive intercept and ranging sonar
Marconi Type 2077 short range active classification sonar Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I band navigation radar Pilkington Optronics CK34 search periscope
Pilkington Optronics CH84/CM010 attack periscope BAE SystemsSMCS from January 1999
Type 2074 sonar from January 1999
Electronic warfare
and decoys:
2 × SSE Mk8 launchers for Type 2066 and Type 2071 torpedo decoys
RESM Racal UAP passive intercept
CESM Outfit CXA
SAWCS decoys from 2002
HMS Torbay was the first vessel to be fitted with the new command system SMCS-NG (derived from the earlier SMCS), which meant that she was also the first Royal Navy vessel to put to sea under the "command" of the Microsoft Windows operating system.
HMS Torbay recently participated in an experiment in the use of colour schemes to reduce the visibility of submarines from the air. In early 2006, the standard black paint of Royal Navy submarines was replaced by a carefully selected shade of blue. This was the result of research that found that black was the worst possible colour for a submarine attempting to avoid detection from the air.citation needed This change is in part the result of the changing nature of Royal Navy commitments since the end of the Cold War, with Navy operations moving from the murky waters of the North Atlantic to the clearer waters of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.[1][2]
HMS Torbay completed a refuel and modernisation process in February 2001.