HMS Astute Runs Aground

[Pete]

HMS Astute, a Royal Navy nuclear submarine, has run aground. There is a BBC story at this link (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11606046). An accident at sea can ruin the whole day. :mad:

[Kiwigrunt]

HMS Astute, a Royal Navy nuclear submarine, has run aground. There is a BBC story at this link (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11606046). An accident at sea can ruin the whole day. :mad:

You gotta wonder about some of the names they give these boats don't ya?:D

[davidbfpo]

Reported that:
A nuclear-powered submarine which ran aground on a shingle bank earlier today has been towed free and is now sailing under its own power

Link (with little detail):A nuclear-powered submarine which ran aground on a shingle bank earlier today has been towed free and is now sailing under its own power

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/8081894/Astute-submarine-refloated-after-running-aground.html

I expect a Court of Inquiry, possibly discreet and the captain's career is hampered to be polite.

Having being exposed to view one wonders if "interested parties" got enough photos, let alone satellite views.

[Pete]

To make it worse it happened on the anniversary of Trafalgar Day, Nelson's victory in 1805 over the French and Spanish. I hope the guy steering the sub had famous last words to save his career, like "Kiss me Hardy."

[davidbfpo]

From The Scotsman, citing an expert:
There is an issue with security. A large part of it is above water, and it is the shape of the submarine that determines its underwater acoustics. It is the bumps and shapes of the hull and the shape of any propellers, if that is seen above water, then someone can work out what it sounds like under water - that is the bit that's really sensitive. You have to be extremely careful.

Link:http://www.scotsman.com/news/Skipper-to-face-naval-inquiry.6595602.jp

[Fuchs]

That's such a nonsense.
There are unrestricted photos of subs all the time (including Astute (http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/02/18/hms10c.jpg)) and the only thing regularly hidden from sight are the screws.
The hull shape is boring anyway.

[Rifleman]

I expect a Court of Inquiry, possibly discreet and the captain's career is hampered to be polite.


"The simple truth is that not all of us become the men we wish to be." - Lucky Jack Aubrey

[davidbfpo]

It does not get better:
A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "We can confirm an incident occurred at the time involving the Coastguard tug and the submarine. We are investigating the matter."
A Navy spokesman said: "There was a collision between Astute and a tug, which resulted in damage to the submarine's starboard foreplane.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/8109273/Nuclear-submarine-which-ran-aground-was-hit-by-tug-which-came-to-free-it.html

[stanleywinthrop]

Oui, Aubrey! May I trouble you for the salt?

[Tom Odom]

Don't shoot at the albatross, Marine!

[davidbfpo]

No great surprise and the next instalment will be his court martial:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11853493

[Pete]

HMS Astute may be an unlucky ship, like the old superstitions of the days of sail and Admiral Nelson. Click here for the latest. (http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/uk-royal-navy-serviceman-shot-dead-alongside-nuclear-submarine_121958.html#) I'm not jeering at the British -- they're America's best friends and a grandfather of mine was one.

[davidbfpo]

A BBC report on the Admiralty Board of Enquiry, which may finally close this chapter with some 'salt' being rubbed in:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17814010