Navy nuclear sub malfunction plunged vessel into 'danger zone'
Story by Sian Elvin • 1dThe Vanguard class sub was equipped with Trident nuclear missiles (Picture: PA)
A Royal Navy submarine equipped with Trident nuclear missiles suffered a huge malfunction which plunged it into the ‘danger zone’.
The Vanguard Class sub was carrying 140 crew members in the Atlantic when its depth gauge suddenly failed, it was reported.
A source told The Sun: ‘It’s not the engineers’ job to control the sub’s depth but they saw how deep they were and realised something was wrong.
‘Technically the sub was still at a depth where we know it can operate, but if it ever has to go that deep the whole crew is piped to action-stations.
‘That hadn’t happened. The sub wasn’t supposed to be there, and it was still diving. And if it had carried on going, it doesn’t really bear thinking about.’
The incident caused panic on board but engineers managed to stop the submarine and its nuclear reactor from plunging at the last moment.
It is thought the depth indicators stopped working, so its crew falsely believed the sub was level when it was actually diving deeper into the ocean.
An engineer pictured inside one of the nuclear submarines in 2019 (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
But engineers later found a second gauge indicating they were headed towards the ‘danger zone’.
Military Today reported the maximum operational depth of this type of vessel is around 500 metres, but it is not known exactly what depth was reached by the Vanguard.
The Royal Navy has four Vanguard Class submarines – HMS Vanguard, Vengeance, Victorious and Vigilant – but it is unknown which one was involved.
Two of the vessels are currently out of operation, as one is being refitted and another is undergoing sea trials.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/worl...-zone-nearly-killing-all-140-crew/ar-AA1kdDT1
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