UK Grounded Nuclear Submarine

[mshoaib61]

One of Britain's most advanced nuclear submarines has been towed free after running aground off the western coast of Scotland.



HMS Astute ran into trouble in shallow waters off the Isle of Skye just after 8am when its rudder apparently became stuck on a shingle bank.

The Ministry of Defence has said it was "not a nuclear incident" and there were no injuries reported.

Three support vessels, including the coastguard, at the scene waited for high tide at around 6pm BST before the attempt to free the stricken sub began.

HMS Astute was pulled off the shingle by a tug and is now operating under its own power, the Royal Navy said.

The vessel will remain in deep water overnight before being assessed tomorrow.


The survey will determine whether it needs assistance to return to its base at Faslane on the Clyde.

A defence source has said the submarine's commanding officer could face a court martial as the officer in ultimate charge of the vessel.

Royal Navy experts have launched a detailed investigation, known as a service inquiry, into why the embarrassing incident occurred.

Military prosecutors will then consider whether HMS Astute's skipper, Commander Andy Coles, or any of his crew was negligent.

One of the UK's latest submarines, Astute is one of a powerful new fleet of four.

It was commissioned at the end of the summer and described as one of the stealthiest ever built in Britain.

A MoD spokeswoman said the grounding was "not a nuclear incident", as the hull had not been breached.

She also said there were no injuries to personnel or indication of any environmental damage.

The vessel was on the surface conducting a "personnel transfer" when her rudder became grounded at the Kyle of Lochalsh, near the Skye road bridge.

Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said the accident will prove embarrassing for the MoD.

"It isn't a flippant subject, but there are going to be jokes about it," Marshall said.
The boat weighs 7,400 tonnes and will not need to refuel during its 25-year life.

:: It can purify water and air, allowing it to circumnavigate the globe underwater.

:: HMS Astute can carry up to 38 torpedoes or missiles.

Nuclear Submarine HMS Astute Grounded On Rocks Off Scottish Coast Of Skye | UK News | Sky News

 

[RPK]

Stranded British Sub Damaged In Tug Collision - Defense News



LONDON - Britain's newest nuclear submarine, which became stranded on a sandbank off the coast of Scotland in October, has now been damaged in a collision with a tug that came to rescue it, the Navy said.

The 1 billion pound ($1.6 billion) HMS Astute was towed free on Oct. 22 after its rudder got stuck while undertaking sea trials near the Isle of Skye.


It was freed by tugs 10 hours later but collided with one of the rescue vessels, thought to be the Anglian Prince, heaping further embarrassment on the country's military.

"There was a collision between Astute and a tug, which resulted in damage to the submarine's starboard foreplane," a Navy spokesman said late Nov. 3.

"This will be repaired at Faslane (naval base) and trials will resume in due course."

It is thought that the incident occurred between the Isle of Skye and the mainland as crew were being transferred from the shore to the submarine.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed the incident in a statement and said investigations were underway to determine the extent of the repairs.

Astute was commissioned into the Navy in August after being named and launched by Prince Charles' wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007.

The 7,800-ton craft's nuclear reactor means it will never have to refuel in its 25-year lifespan and is capable of circumnavigating the globe without resurfacing.

The vessel, which was built by defense firm BAE Systems in Cumbria, northern England, can carry a mix of up to 38 Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The incident came a year after British and French submarines collided in the Atlantic, damaging both vessel

 

[Chogy]

Sailors are very superstitious. The HMS Astute will forever be branded as an "unlucky" boat. The reality of it is, **** happens. No permanent damage, no loss of life, no radiation issues.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Sailors are very superstitious. The HMS Astute will forever be branded as an "unlucky" boat. The reality of it is, **** happens. No permanent damage, no loss of life, no radiation issues.

Indeed, that is part of both the tradition and mystique of sea-faring, even in the 21st century.

 

[unicorn]

UK admirals call for rethink on navy cuts
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Nov 10, IRNA -- A group of former British navy chiefs Wednesday urged the government to reverse its decision to scrap the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the fleet of Harrier jets, saying they were 'the most dangerous of the defence cuts'.

In a joint letter to the Times, the former admirals warned that the cuts would leave the oil-rich Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic open to a fresh Argentinian attack 'from which British prestige ... might never recover'.

The signatories, including former navy chief Lord West, said they believed Prime Minister David Cameron had been badly advised before agreeing to the measures as part of the Strategic Defence Review and the need to cut the country’s defence budget.

They suggested that scrapping the aircraft carrier and its fleet of Harrier jets “practically invited' Argentina to attempt to inflict a national humiliation on the British on the scale of the loss of Singapore in 1942.

West, who served as security minister under the previous Labour government, warned that if the islands were captured as they were in 1982, there could be “absolutely no way whatsoever of recovering them unless we have carrier air.'

He told the Times that he was not convinced that the prime minister had been given a 'full and proper briefing about the implications' of the defence cuts.

But Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey insisted that the Falklands could still be protected - and if necessary, retaken - without an aircraft carrier.

'The Falklands is a very different situation now from what it was in 1982. We're far more alert to the threat now, we've got a well-defended airfield, we've got a company of troops there, we've got submarines,' Harvey told the BBC.

He also argued that the Tornado fixed-wing planes were the right aircraft for the current conflict in Afghanistan and for the next decade or so.

'This was a very difficult decision. It was looked at in immense detail. In the end a decision had to be made and we took the decision on the basis of the balance of military advice coming from the current military leadership,” Harvey said.