http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...ory-of-the-nuclear-submarine-115875-23046941/
HMS Astute shooting: The troubled history of the nuclear submarine
*
*
By Mirror.co.uk 8/04/2011
Shooting on nuclear sub HMS Astute (Pic:BBC News)
HMS Astute, the nuclear submarine on board which two people have been shot today, has had a troubled history since being rolled out in June 2007. Most notably, it was left humiliatingly stranded on a shingle bank after it ran aground last October.
The £1.2billion nuclear vessel was on trials but unarmed when it got stuck in shallow water off Skye - hundreds of metres outside the Royal Navy's safe lanes.
Boasting a state-of-the-art auto pilot and sonar system meaning it can lie virtually undetected in waters near the coast, the stealth sub – then skippered by Cmdr Andy Coles - spent 10 hours in full view of passers-by after sailing past simple buoys that warn sailors of shallow water.
And that wasn’t the first time that the super-advanced sub suffered an embarrassing setback.
In May 2010, it was tied up in dock after a planned two-week sea trial was halted in just one day following an electrical blaze.
Advertisement - article continues below »
A source said at the time: "Virtually every time this boat leaves port something breaks or goes on fire and they have to sail home. It's fast earning the title SS Calamity due to all the fires and technical meltdowns it's suffered.
"No one wants to even guess when it will be officially passed as sea-worthy and put into active service."
Even Astute’s launch was atypical. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, launched the vessel – as opposed to the duty traditionally carried out by the Queen – but the sub was on a huge trolley, out of water, at the time.
And, rather than a bottle of champagne, the much vaunted submarine was christened with a humble bottle of home brew having reportedly been finished four years late and at a cost of almost double the original budget.
HMS Astute: 10 things you need to know about the Royal Navy's flagship submarine
HMS Astute: inside the Royal Navy nuclear submarine - in pictures
<hr width="50%">
http://forargyll.com/2011/04/anothe...astute-one-dead-in-shooting-incident-onboard/
Another misadventure for HMS Astute: one dead in shooting incident onboard
newsroom published this on 2:53 pm, Friday, 8th April, 2011
Community News| defence | Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping |
(Latest update below) Is HMS Astute jinxed? The UK’s latest nuclear powered but conventionally armed hunter/killer submarine is on a five day visit to Southampton and has been berthed at the port’s Eastern Docks there since Wednesday.
Hampshire Police were called to the ship just after midday today (Friday 8th April 2011) after a shooting incident onboard which produced injuries to two men.
One casualty has been stretchered off the submarine to a waiting ambulance and a forensic team has been working on the ship.
One man has been arrested and is in the charge of Hampshire Police – who have sealed off the area around the docks. They say that the incident is not terrorism-related and that there is no risk to public safety.
Southampton City Council’s preparations for Astute’s official visit included establishing stocks of anti-radiation potassium iodate tablets at no fewer than fourteen strategic locations.
The council has confirmed that Carol Cunio, the Mayor of Southampton, Royston Smith, Council Leader and Alistair Neil, its Chief Executive were on board the submarine when the shooting took place.
The Ministry of Defence is referring all inquiries to Hampshire Police who are in charge of the matter.
HMS Astute recently suffered the embarrassment of grounding on a shingle bank in one of the most publicly accessible places on the Scottish west coast – near the bridge to the Isle of Skye.
She did some damage to her rudder in the grounding and was towed off by a Coastguard tug, the Anglian Prince.
It later emerged that a mismatch in size between the low profile submarine and the high freeboard tug had led to the Anglian Prince colliding with and damaging the Astute’s starboard foreplane in the attempt to pull her off.
Following the incident, Astute’s Commander, Andy Coles, was relieved of his command and moved to a desk job.
At the time of the grounding incident, the Ministry of Defence was quick to declare that while there was some damage to the rudder, none had been done to the ship’s nuclear reactor.
There is no suggestion that today’s incident has casued concerns of this kind, although it is not yet known where, on the ship, the shooting occurred.
It is, though, of serious concern that such an incident should take place on board one of our nuclear submarines. No doubt the staff at Astute’s base in Argyll – the UK submarine base at Faslane on the Clyde – will be glad that this happened elsewhere.
Update: 14.45 8th April: The incident is now even more serious. One man is dead and the other is on life support. It is understood that one crewman shot two colleagues before being overwhelmed by others.
NOTE: Entering HMS Astute in the Search on this page will give access to the range of stories we have carried on the submarine.
HMS Astute shooting: The troubled history of the nuclear submarine
*
*
By Mirror.co.uk 8/04/2011
Shooting on nuclear sub HMS Astute (Pic:BBC News)
HMS Astute, the nuclear submarine on board which two people have been shot today, has had a troubled history since being rolled out in June 2007. Most notably, it was left humiliatingly stranded on a shingle bank after it ran aground last October.
The £1.2billion nuclear vessel was on trials but unarmed when it got stuck in shallow water off Skye - hundreds of metres outside the Royal Navy's safe lanes.
Boasting a state-of-the-art auto pilot and sonar system meaning it can lie virtually undetected in waters near the coast, the stealth sub – then skippered by Cmdr Andy Coles - spent 10 hours in full view of passers-by after sailing past simple buoys that warn sailors of shallow water.
And that wasn’t the first time that the super-advanced sub suffered an embarrassing setback.
In May 2010, it was tied up in dock after a planned two-week sea trial was halted in just one day following an electrical blaze.
Advertisement - article continues below »
A source said at the time: "Virtually every time this boat leaves port something breaks or goes on fire and they have to sail home. It's fast earning the title SS Calamity due to all the fires and technical meltdowns it's suffered.
"No one wants to even guess when it will be officially passed as sea-worthy and put into active service."
Even Astute’s launch was atypical. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, launched the vessel – as opposed to the duty traditionally carried out by the Queen – but the sub was on a huge trolley, out of water, at the time.
And, rather than a bottle of champagne, the much vaunted submarine was christened with a humble bottle of home brew having reportedly been finished four years late and at a cost of almost double the original budget.
HMS Astute: 10 things you need to know about the Royal Navy's flagship submarine
HMS Astute: inside the Royal Navy nuclear submarine - in pictures
<hr width="50%">
http://forargyll.com/2011/04/anothe...astute-one-dead-in-shooting-incident-onboard/
Another misadventure for HMS Astute: one dead in shooting incident onboard
newsroom published this on 2:53 pm, Friday, 8th April, 2011
Community News| defence | Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping |
(Latest update below) Is HMS Astute jinxed? The UK’s latest nuclear powered but conventionally armed hunter/killer submarine is on a five day visit to Southampton and has been berthed at the port’s Eastern Docks there since Wednesday.
Hampshire Police were called to the ship just after midday today (Friday 8th April 2011) after a shooting incident onboard which produced injuries to two men.
One casualty has been stretchered off the submarine to a waiting ambulance and a forensic team has been working on the ship.
One man has been arrested and is in the charge of Hampshire Police – who have sealed off the area around the docks. They say that the incident is not terrorism-related and that there is no risk to public safety.
Southampton City Council’s preparations for Astute’s official visit included establishing stocks of anti-radiation potassium iodate tablets at no fewer than fourteen strategic locations.
The council has confirmed that Carol Cunio, the Mayor of Southampton, Royston Smith, Council Leader and Alistair Neil, its Chief Executive were on board the submarine when the shooting took place.
The Ministry of Defence is referring all inquiries to Hampshire Police who are in charge of the matter.
HMS Astute recently suffered the embarrassment of grounding on a shingle bank in one of the most publicly accessible places on the Scottish west coast – near the bridge to the Isle of Skye.
She did some damage to her rudder in the grounding and was towed off by a Coastguard tug, the Anglian Prince.
It later emerged that a mismatch in size between the low profile submarine and the high freeboard tug had led to the Anglian Prince colliding with and damaging the Astute’s starboard foreplane in the attempt to pull her off.
Following the incident, Astute’s Commander, Andy Coles, was relieved of his command and moved to a desk job.
At the time of the grounding incident, the Ministry of Defence was quick to declare that while there was some damage to the rudder, none had been done to the ship’s nuclear reactor.
There is no suggestion that today’s incident has casued concerns of this kind, although it is not yet known where, on the ship, the shooting occurred.
It is, though, of serious concern that such an incident should take place on board one of our nuclear submarines. No doubt the staff at Astute’s base in Argyll – the UK submarine base at Faslane on the Clyde – will be glad that this happened elsewhere.
Update: 14.45 8th April: The incident is now even more serious. One man is dead and the other is on life support. It is understood that one crewman shot two colleagues before being overwhelmed by others.
NOTE: Entering HMS Astute in the Search on this page will give access to the range of stories we have carried on the submarine.
