International Naval News & Discussion

[Singha]

the seawolf and virginia boats have had these capabilities for years, including the seal launching module which I posted few days back. but yes for the british it is definitely a step up into the top league.

[Austin]

Russian submersibles to be tested in the Atlantic in Oct

Deepwater trials of Project 16810 Rus and Project 16811 Konsul autonomous submersibles built by Admiralteyskie Verfi shipyard will be held in the Atlantic in Oct, said Vladimir Aleksandrov, the shipyard's director general.

"At present, we're finishing the first stage of state trials and preparing for October's expedition in the Atlantic where submersibles will be tested at the depth of 6,000 meters", said Aleksandrov.

[Austin]

Russia to honor deal to sell P-800 anti-ship missiles to Syria

"It is the 2007 contract. The issue of selling the missiles to Syria was raised during the talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates... Undoubtedly, it [the contract] would be fulfilled by the Russian side," the Russian minister said.

Israeli media said in late August that the country was working to thwart Syria's plans to get the highly accurate missiles, which Israel considers a threat to its navy vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko dismissed the media reports.

[Philip]

Unique pics (check link) of the latest UASN Virginia class attack SSN's anechoic hull cladding,peeling off causing problems in all the boats.The thickness of the cladding (appears to be 3-4inches tk)can clearly be measured from these pics and could give an indication of its quieting characteristics in comparison with other sub cladding..

http://www.dailypress.com/news/military ... 8842.story

Xcpts:

The shark-like skin coating that makes Virginia class submarines difficult for sonar to detect has peeled off the boats in swatches that in some cases measure hundreds of square feet..

[chackojoseph]

Self Deleted.

[Thomas Kolarek]

The End of Surface Warships

[Austin]

Unique pics (check link) of the latest UASN Virginia class attack SSN's anechoic hull cladding,peeling off causing problems in all the boats.

Philip if you notice closely the American Rubber Tiles coating on the hull of the sub are quite smooth like a single rubber roll , compared to the Russian distinct tile like structure. The only time these rubber tiles are visible on Virginia are on the sail.

Indeed the tiles of Virginia are very thick and advanced tiles are made of multiple coating of different formulation and thickness to deal with broadband sonar.

[Philip]

New mystery Chinese SSK.All the more reason for the MOD/N to accelerate our second line of subs post haste and augment the fleet with more U-boats.The PLAN is also reported to be building a new DDG class of 8,000t+.

http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jni/j ... _1_n.shtml

Mystery Chinese SSK fuels Asia's submarine race
Janes' excerpts:

The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation has launched an unidentified new-type conventional submarine (SSK) at its Wuhan shipyard, according to Chinese reports.

It is the third new SSK design revealed by China since 1994 and is likely to exacerbate regional anxieties that are propelling many Asian states to increase or establish submarine fleets.

Vague or altered internet images of this new SSK, which first appeared on the popular Chinese CALF web page on 10 September, led observers to think that it may be yet another Chinese internet hoax, but the submarine's existence was confirmed by much clearer images on 13 September.

While not much larger than the 3,000- to 4,000-ton Type 041 Yuan class, the new boat appears to incorporate Russian design influences, including a stouter hull with a reduced aft taper similar to the Project 667 Lada/Amur class, plus an elongated sail and hull-mounted retractable hydroplanes similar to the Project 636 Kilo class. However, in contrast to the sail of the Kilo, the new Chinese SSK incorporates hydrodynamic elements such as an intricately-faired leading edge with concave and convex curves.

[Austin]

The chinese are probably experimenting with different SSK design with incremental updates , will help them in their learning curve.

[dinesha]

France To Outline Naval Package for Brazil
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i= ... =SEA&s=TOP

The French offer would be based on specific requirements set by the Brazilian authorities, who are looking to acquire three distinct types of vessels: an OPV, a multimission frigate for the high seas and a tanker for ship-to-ship refueling, he said.

France would offer the same class of frigate, the FREMM, as that being built for the French Navy, he said.

Britain and Italy were also preparing similar offers, de Lajugie said.

A second French official said Brazil was looking for five OPVs, a similar number of frigates and one auxiliary refueling tanker.

[Kanson]

The End of Surface Warships

This sounds as good as end of Tank warfare with the advent of Anti-tank missile.

[Austin]

Not sure what good this vehical for but some news

Russia aiming to mass produce ground effect vehicles from 2015

Commenting on the advantages of ground effect vehicles, Platonov said their technical characteristics exceed those of both ships and planes.

One ground effect vehicle now on the design board would be able to deploy 32 Club cruise missiles.

"What other craft can also deploy so many missiles given that a flarecraft is nearly invisible and has a speed of 500 kilometers an hour [311 mph] at two or three meters above the sea or land?" Platonov said.

[Gerard]

Surti built oldest surviving UK warship

In 1816, work began on HMS Trincomalee at the Wadia Shipyards at Bombay, near the teak forests of
Malabar. Master shipbuilder Jamsetjee Bomanjee Waed dia supervised the construction — one of 14 ships he would build for the Royal Navy during his life. In accordance with Zoroastrian tradition, an engraved silver nail was hammered into the keel to ensure the vessel's wellbeing. Little did they know how well it would work," according to details provided by the HMS Trincomalee Trust.

[Philip]

While America slept,China built a blue-water navy!
Q.Did India sleep too?

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/ ... 00926.aspx

Robert D. Kaplan is the author of "Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power." He is a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a national correspondent for the Atlantic magazine.

Xcpts:

While U.S. is distracted, China develops sea power

By Robert D. Kaplan
Sunday, September 26, 2010

The greatest geopolitical development that has occurred largely beneath the radar of our Middle East-focused media over the past decade has been the rise of Chinese sea power. This is evinced by President Obama's meeting Friday about the South China Sea, where China has conducted live-fire drills and made territorial claims against various Southeast Asian countries, and the dispute over the Senkaku Islands between Japan and China in the East China Sea, the site of a recent collision between a Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese coast guard ships.

Whereas an island nation such as Britain goes to sea as a matter of course, a continental nation with long and contentious land borders, such as China, goes to sea as a luxury. The last time China went to sea in the manner that it is doing was in the early 15th century, when the Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He sailed his fleets as far as the Horn of Africa. His journeys around the southern Eurasian rim ended when the Ming emperors became distracted by their land campaigns against the Mongols to the north. Despite occasional unrest among the Muslim Uighur Turks in western China, history is not likely to repeat itself. If anything, the forces of Chinese demography and corporate control are extending Chinese power beyond the country's dry-land frontiers -- into Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia.

China has the world's second-largest naval service, after only the United States. Rather than purchase warships across the board, it is developing niche capacities in sub-surface warfare and missile technology designed to hit moving targets at sea. At some point, the U.S. Navy is likely to be denied unimpeded access to the waters off East Asia. China's 66 submarines constitute roughly twice as many warships as the entire British Royal Navy. If China expands its submarine fleet to 78 by 2020 as planned, it would be on par with the U.S. Navy's undersea fleet in quantity, if not in quality. If our economy remains wobbly while China's continues to rise -- China's defense budget is growing nearly 10 percent annually -- this will have repercussions for each nation's sea power. And with 90 percent of commercial goods worldwide still transported by ship, sea control is critical.

We underestimate the importance of what is occurring between China and Taiwan, at the northern end of the South China Sea. With 270 flights per week between the countries, and hundreds of missiles on the mainland targeting the island, China is quietly incorporating Taiwan into its dominion. Once it becomes clear, a few years or a decade hence, that the United States cannot credibly defend Taiwan, China will be able to redirect its naval energies beyond the first island chain in the Pacific (from Japan south to Australia) to the second island chain (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands) and in the opposite direction, to the Indian Ocean.

To wit, China is building a blue water navy, even as it is helping to fund and construct ports in Burma, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Chinese will not have naval bases in these countries: India would find that far too provocative, and the Chinese are taking pains so others see their rise as peaceful and non-hegemonic. Rather, these harbors will be visited by Chinese warships and will provide warehousing for Chinese consumer goods destined for the Middle East. China is building a far-flung trading network, ultimately to be protected by its warships -- the British Empire refitted for a 21st-century era of globalization.

America's preoccupation with the Middle East suits China perfectly. We are paying in blood and treasure to stabilize Afghanistan while China is building transport and pipeline networks throughout Central Asia that will ultimately reach Kabul and the trillion dollars' worth of minerals lying underground. Whereas Americans ask how can we escape Afghanistan, the Chinese, who are already prospecting for copper there, ask: How can we stay? Our military mission in Afghanistan diverts us from properly reacting to the Chinese naval challenge in East Asia.

The United States should not consider China an enemy. But neither is it in our interest to be distracted while a Chinese economic empire takes shape across Eurasia. This budding empire is being built on our backs: the protection of the sea lines of communication by the U.S. Navy and the pacification of Afghanistan by U.S. ground troops. It is through such asymmetry -- we pay far more to maintain what we have than it costs the Chinese to replace us -- that great powers rise and fall. That is why the degree to which the United States can shift its focus from the Middle East to East Asia will say much about our future prospects as a great power.

[Austin]

SSBN Yury Dolgoruky completed sea trials

Pics of YD performing emergency blow up trials ( via MP.net )
Pics1
Pics2

[Singha]

but since it designed for Bulava and tubes too small for RSM54 Sineva SLBM (delta-IV), it is effectively of no use until Bulava get fixed or a new missile is created and passes trials ?

[Austin]

^^^ Thats right YD cant accept any thing other then Bulava , so either they rectify the problem with Bulava or convert it into SSGN with modular launcher tube.

[Singha]

iirc there is some talk of a strategic serious SLCM with stealth tech and 5000km range...perhaps a kh55 successor with 21st century tech and a single nuclear/conventional warhead.

Bulava could be the new SSGN class for it

all depends on what soln Makeyev proposes and Putin signs off on.

[Austin]

Iran unveils 'Bavar 2' flying boat

According to the Iranian military, "flying boats" were armed with machine guns and equipped with night vision devices, and intelligence equipment Information from the avionics Bavar-2 can be transmitted to the operational headquarters.

[Arya Sumantra]

"The End of Surface Warships"
>>This sounds as good as end of Tank warfare with the advent of Anti-tank missile.

IMHO, the example is not apt. Tank warfare did not end with advent of anti-tank missile because any other alternative would also be equally vulnerable to similar measures. For ground-based mechanized forces there is only one way: more armour and more armour. But in case of navy, there are diminishing reasons as to why a water based platform should be constrained to be on the surface only.

Take a good look at this french futuristic concept(below). Its radar is already sealed inside a dome, the guns are retractable though not water-tight. Other than the helicopter on its deck, is there ANY good reason why this vessel should not be hybridized with submarine concept and made submersible?


I agree with the title of that article about demise of surface warships especially with widespread acquisition of anti-ship missiles. The future is submersible vessels. Why constraint yourself to surface if you could be on surface or submerged as needed?

JMT

[Arya Sumantra]

"The End of Surface Warships"
>>This sounds as good as end of Tank warfare with the advent of Anti-tank missile.

IMHO, the example is not apt. Tank warfare did not end with advent of anti-tank missile because any other alternative would also be equally vulnerable to similar measures. For ground-based mechanized forces there is only one way: more armour and more armour. But in case of navy, there are diminishing reasons as to why a water based platform should be constrained to be on the surface only.

Take a good look at this french futuristic concept(below). Its radar is already sealed inside a dome, the guns are retractable though not water-tight. Other than the helicopter on its deck, is there ANY good reason why this vessel should not be hybridized with submarine concept and made submersible?



I agree with the title of that article about demise of surface warships especially with widespread acquisition of anti-ship missiles. The future is submersible vessels. Why constraint yourself to surface if you could be on surface or submerged as needed?

JMT

[Craig Alpert]

Gas turbine engine on LCS Freedom breaks

A high-speed gas turbine engine on board the Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship broke earlier this month and will need to be replaced, but officials don’t expect the mishap to affect the ship’s testing schedule.

The incident took place Sept. 12 while Freedom was operating off southern California. The ship shut down its two Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines after “high vibration indications” were seen in the starboard engine, according to Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the Naval Surface Forces command in San Diego. The ship returned to port using its diesel engines.

Subsequent examination of the broken engine showed that turbine blading had broken off and damaged the unit, Salata said.

The incident comes at an awkward time for Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for the Freedom, which is locked in a competition with Austal USA, the builder of LCS 2..............

Removal of the damaged engine will allow the Navy and its contractors to try the ship’s engine changeout procedure. All ships have features that allow the engines to be removed and replaced, and Freedom’s design provides for engines to come up through the ship’s intake stacks, according to Lockheed.

“The changeout process requires a few days for set-up and removal, and the replacement can be done within 48 hours,” said Kimberly Martinez, a spokesperson for Lockheed.

The Navy will allow up to a week for the changeout, Salata noted...............

[Philip]

Arya,been studying the same for years.The Soviets had a submersible missile boat during the Kruschev era.The Japanese had a sub with aircraft in the hull.The problem is that if the vessel has to carry large helos,then its usefulness would be diminished every time it had to submerge,especially if the helos were in the air when it had to submerge! Secondly,how less detectable would it be when compared with a conventional missile sub? It would be far noisier in my opinion.If the vessel is small,like a missile boat,then it could be very deadly when approaching submerged for instance,Karachi! As the vessel gets larger,its design will become more problematic.Heavily shaped superstructures of warships which have concealed or conformal sensors would be more cost-effective and would also be capable of carrying far more lethal weaponry including in the future hi-tech wepaonry like beam weapons,etc.

Meanwhile,some speculation about China's new "stealth sub".Have they truly developed a silent sub?

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/htm ... 00811.html

Has China Built a New Stealth Submarine? China's neighbors are worried that the People's Republic may already have produced a stealth submarine, the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong reported Sunday.

Three weeks ago, photos of a new submarine built at a Chinese naval shipyard in Wuhan failed to draw much attention when they were posted on several websites. But that changed last week when the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation disclosed that the Wuhan shipyard had built a new submarine, as well as more details of the craft.

China has not yet officially announced that this is a stealth sub, but neighboring countries have become nervous as military experts say that is what it is, the paper claimed.

"The talk in our community is that we are seeing the first signs of a completed new design," the daily quoted one Asian military expert as saying. "The question is ... just how quiet have they been able to make it? Stealth is everything when it comes to submarines and at some point China is going to finally crack it."

It also quoted the People's Liberation Army Daily as saying Da Liang Long, a professor at the PLA Navy's Submarine Academy, won an award from the Central Military Commission for his "considerable" work on submarine stealth technology.

[Arya Sumantra]

Arya,been studying the same for years.The Soviets had a submersible missile boat during the Kruschev era.

Philip saar, the anti-ship missiles in that era were not as advanced to properly weigh the submersible boats' cost-benefit analysis back then perhaps. It will do so now.

The problem is that if the vessel has to carry large helos,then its usefulness would be diminished every time it had to submerge,especially if the helos were in the air when it had to submerge!

It's all about co-ordination and communication and loitering capability of a helo in case of an emergency submerge of the sub. If it was unmanned like NRUAV, you wouldn't mind sacrificing it in case of an emergency wherein the main vessel has to remain submerged.
Finally, a helo seems to be a trivial reason for a vessel to accept a constraint - stuck to be on surface

Secondly,how less detectable would it be when compared with a conventional missile sub? It would be far noisier in my opinion.

It should be pretty comparable in noise levels, i think with a diesel-electric drive like a sub. Actually the noise comparison should be with a warship that it is substituting.
Besides, a sub is not constrained to remain submerged, it could always surface if you find that config less noisy.

As the vessel gets larger,its design will become more problematic.Heavily shaped superstructures of warships which have concealed or conformal sensors would be more cost-effective and would also be capable of carrying far more lethal weaponry including in the future hi-tech wepaonry like beam weapons,etc.

All the better if it can be submersible as well. A stealth ship is invisible only in BVR but once within WVR all that benefit is gone. A submersible ship is invisible all the way detectable only by noise.

Besides, a submersible warship would be invisible to the dragon's prying eyes in sky(satellites, surveillance planes).

If IN sees the image below as the top-half of a sufaced submarine then it is seeing the future right, imho.


DDG 1000 Zumwalt

JMT

[Brando]

Take a good look at this french futuristic concept(below). Its radar is already sealed inside a dome, the guns are retractable though not water-tight. Other than the helicopter on its deck, is there ANY good reason why this vessel should not be hybridized with submarine concept and made submersible?

Because, for one, fluid dynamics would dictate a completely different shape for any reasonably decent submersible vessel; a geometry that would be detrimental to surface vessels both in terms of RCS and efficiency . And two, a hermetically sealed self-contained environment like a submarine is much much more expensive to build than a surface vessel, even a stealthy surface vessel. Third, the skill sets required by sailors for surface vessels and submerged vessels are completely different, expecting the same crew to be proficient at both during long deployments, is a stretch.

You want to go back to days of the U-boats which acted both like surface warships while surfaced with their flak guns, HMGs and cannons and submarines when they were submerged. The days of the "Wolf Pack" . That concept proved to be not very good at either above or below the waves when faced with real opposition.

In the end, you would be building a vessel, that wouldn't be as good as a good surface vessel and wouldn't be as good as a good submarines while costing more, requiring a very highly trained crew in a very cramped ship.

[Singha]

the french also had a huge submarine 'cruiser' called Surcouf...a failure...with 2x203mm gun turret
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_sub ... 28N_N_3%29

[D Roy]

DDG 1000 ? that's just the tumblehome design making a comeback from WWI...

[dinesha]

Replace ailing Collins-class submarines or risk security, says opposition defence spokesman David Johnston
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 5935666453
AUSTRALIA may have no choice but to buy ready-made European submarines to replace the ailing Collins-class fleet, the opposition says.

[Pratyush]

Perhaps the IN and RAN could merge the Indian P 75I and the aus requiremnt and create a new design. That will have the advantage of reducing the unit costs by spreading the R&D expense over a large number of units build.

JMT

[Philip]

Massive RN cuts proposed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... riers.html

Navy to reduce to smallest size ever to save carriers
The Navy is set to be reduced to the smallest size in its history after admirals yesterday offered drastic reductions in the fleet in order to save two new aircraft carriers from defence cuts.

Xcpts:

Under the plans, the number of warships would be cut by almost half to just 25, with frigates, destroyers, submarines, minesweepers and all amphibious craft scrapped.

Even if built, the new carriers could sail without any British aircraft to fly from them after admirals "mortgaged everything" to persuade ministers not to abandon the £5.2 billion programme. The ships could also be delayed for years and redesigned to save money, defence sources have disclosed.

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A blueprint for defence that saves money and keeps Britain secure
The Navy strikes backIn a final appeal to the National Security Council, Navy chiefs yesterday offered to make cuts that would reduce the senior service to its smallest since the time of Henry VIII.

One new aircraft carrier is already under construction, but the fate of the second has emerged as the central issue of the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review, which is supposed to frame military planning for the next decade.

A meeting of senior Cabinet members yesterday stopped short of a formal decision on the carrier order, although insiders now believe both ships will be built. However, the timetable and the specification for the carriers remain in the balance.

Options still on the table include delaying delivery by several years and redesigning one or both ships to carry cheaper jets or even helicopters. Alternatively, the second carrier could be built but put on "extended readiness", effectively mothballed as soon as it was completed.

PS:Oz would have to abandon its deep suspicion of India and its inferiority complex if it wants to join a JV for sub construction.I do not think that the GOI /IN will want that because of the very close defence realtionship that Oz has with the US.In any case OZ will never get sub-launched B'Mos missiles from either us or Russia!

Regarding the submersible warship,the points above are valid.It is going to be far more expensive to "submerge" a warship than designing a smaller sub.For example,most warships have gas turbines ,diesels or combinations of both.How do you manage to power the submerged vessel,when intakes and exhausts/funnels have to be watertight?This would require auxiliary power as in subs.Designing a stealthy warship is a far easier option,where the deck could be shaped even flatter or inclined if a catamaran/trimaran hull is employed.Concealed/conformal sensors and telescopic masts would increase stealth considerably.I do not know why the IN has not pursued developing alternative hulls for surface vessels like cats and trimarans.The land of OZ has been hugely successful with their INCAT designs for commerical vessels which are being used even by the USN.
Subs on the surface as pointed out in WW2 became sitting ducks for Allies ASW aircraft and the key reson why the Nazis failed in the Atlantic War was because they did not support their subs in the air,allowing the Allies total domination of the air and thus enabling them to sink German U-boats.Also massively assisting them was the fact (unnown for decades ) that the Allies had broken the German cyphers at their secret centre at Bletchley and knew the location of enemy subs which made it easier to deal with them.

However,one can return indeed to the Soviet concept of a submersible fast attack missile craft of around 400-500t.Modern missiles are smaller,lighter and can be fitted so that stealth is not comnpromised when on the surface.Imagine the exciting prospect of submerging to avoid detection in another raid on Karachi,popping up,"letting go" and submerging again!

[Philip]

Bulava test successful.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/eur ... 87944.html

Russia's military said it has successfully test-fired a long-range ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine, boosting the nation's weapons program that has been afflicted by a series of failed launches.

The Defense Ministry said the Bulava missile was fired Thursday from the White Sea off the country's northwestern coast from its Dmitry Donskoi nuclear submarine and successfully hit a designated testing range about 6,000 kilometers away in Russia's far eastern Kamachatka Peninsula.

The missile had failed repeatedly in earlier trials, passing just five of the 12 previous launch attempts.

The Bulava is designed to dodge missile defenses and deliver multiple nuclear warheads. It is the sea-based version of Russia's Topol-M surface-to-surface missile and is expected to become the chief weapon in the country's strategic missile force.

[Singha]

AoA...bring on the Beast!

[Gerard]

Five days aboard one of Britain's silent warriors, the submarine HMS Talent

[Philip]

UK's 'special relationship' with US heads under water
Jonathan Gornall
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwid ... nder-water

[venku_Raj]

Has China Built a New Stealth Submarine?

[Gerard]

David Cameron to delay Trident replacement

The prime minister will underline the scale of the cuts to Britain's annual £37bn defence budget tomorrow when he announces that Britain will be without a carrier strike capability for a decade. HMS Ark Royal will be decommissioned immediately and its Harrier jump jets will be withdrawn from service.

HMS Ark Royal to be scrapped

[Philip]

HMS Astute,the world's most advanced nuclear hunter-killer sub (says the RN) runs aground off Skye! The waters off the romantic isle of Skye,made famous by the escape from Skye to France of the Jacobite pretender to the throne of Scotland,Bonnie Prince Charlie,also famous for Talisker single malt,is regularly used by the RN for training and exercises.

HMS Astute: world's most advanced nuclear submarine runs aground
The world’s most advanced nuclear submarine, HMS Astute, has run aground on rocks off Scotland causing considerable embarrassment for Navy chiefs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... round.html

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Published: 11:02AM BST 22 Oct 2010

Britain's Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine HMS Astute (top) sails into the River Clyde towards HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane near Glasgow, Scotland Photo: REUTERS The grounding of the £1.2 billion Astute hunter-killer comes at the end of a dire week for the Royal Navy which has seen its carrier force halved, Harrier jump jets axed and warship force reduced by almost a quarter.

It is understood that the boat, which is first in its class, ran aground by its stern in a manoeuvre that “went slightly wrong” after it had dropped some sailors ashore in tidal waters off the Isle of Skye.

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Big guns don't win today's warsAs the tide rapidly ebbed it is thought the skipper of Astute, Commander Andy Coles, decided not to power it off the obstruction as it would risk damaging the hull that carries some of the most advanced acoustic tiles that make Astute virtually undetectable beneath the seas.

Navy insiders insisted that there was no likelihood of a nuclear reactor leak or any other environmental issue.

No one was injured in the incident that happened earlier today. It came the morning after Trafalgar Day, where sailors celebrated the 205th anniversary of Nelson's victory.

“Astute ran aground by her very stern earlier this morning as she was transferring people ashore,” a Navy spokesman said. “There’s no nuclear issue or no environmental issue that we are aware of and no one has been hurt.”

The submarine, which carries a crew of 98, will now wait until later today for tug boats to pull her off when the tide comes in.

Astute, which was handed over to the Navy by its builders BAE Systems in late August, will then continue her sea trials.

It is not known whether the boat, which can carry up to 38 Tomahawk cruise missiles and Spearfish torpedoes, was carrying any weapons.

At 7,200 tonnes the Astute is the biggest British nuclear attack submarine ever built, although it is half the size of the Trident nuclear submarines at 16,000 tonnes. The boat’s nuclear reactor will never need refueling during its 35 year life.

Amid the gloom of Navy cuts, which will see the Senior Service reduced by 5,000 sailors to 30,000, there was some celebration following publication of the defence review on Tuesday after it was announced the seventh and final Astute-class submarine would be ordered.

However the incident comes on the back of a number of submarine accidents in the last few years.

More on the Astute:
HMS Astute: submarine is king of the waves
HMS Astute's specifications are heaven for lovers of big numbers
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... waves.html

[Austin]

^^^ What is interesting and important for RN amidst all the cuts is that they are maintaining a very credible under water fleet of SSBN and new SSN Astute with 7 of the latter types to be fully funded , that would give the RN the silent teeth that it needs.

[Gerard]

Grounded nuclear sub dragged free

[ramana]

Philip who can forget the saga of Flora Macdonald and the Isle of Skye!