The four Resolution-class submarines were ordered on 8 May 1963, with Revenge,[a] the fourth of the class, laid down at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 19 May 1965.

At one stage the Ministry of Defence considered towing the unfinished submarines to Barrow-in-Furness for completion by Vickers-Armstrongs.

[4][6] A PWR1 pressurised water reactor, designed and built by Rolls-Royce fed steam to geared steam turbines, with the machinery rated at 15,000 shaft horsepower (11,000 kW), giving a speed of 25 knots (29 mph; 46 km/h) submerged and 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) surfaced.

[4] The ship had a complement of 143 (13 officers and 130 other ranks), with two separate crews in order to maximise time at sea.

She is currently being stored pending the identification of a disposal solution for all of the UK's decommissioned nuclear submarines, at Rosyth Dockyard,[11][12] on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth.