HMS ALLIANCE was one of the new A class submarines, designed for WWII operations in the Pacific. However, only two were actually completed prior to the end of the war in Europe, HMS AMPHION and HMS ASTUTE. ALLIANCE was finally launched in July 1945. Shortly after she was commissioned in 1947, ALLIANCE made headline news - the boat and her crew broke the world record for the longest time a submarine had spent underwater, a full three weeks continually submerged.

HMS ALLIANCE served in the Far East during the Indonesian Confrontation and was involved in the early years of the Cold War. In 1971 she suffered a battery explosion whilst alongside at HMS DOLPHIN in Gosport which claimed the life of one crew member and injured 14 others.

By 1973, the A Class had become outpaced by the newer PORPOISE and OBERON Classes of submarine and she was decommissioned and used as a training boat. In 1979 she was transferred on permanent loan to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport and, in 1981, was lifted out of the water to act as a memorial to the sacrifice of all members of the Submarine Service listed in this Book.