June 8, 2007
... Britain launches massive sub that can hear a
ship from across the Atlantic
She is four years late and a massive 900 million
over-budget.
But when the Royal Navy's super-sub HMS Astute
finally arrived, she made for an awesome sight.
More complex than the space shuttle, and able to
circumnavigate the globe without surfacing, the
7,400-ton monster is the largest and deadliest
hunter-killer submarine ever built.
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall cracked a
bottle of beer brewed by the sub's crew on her
prow to officially name the "boat", in Navy
jargon, before she was gingerly wheeled out of
her shed at the stately speed of one metre per
minute.
The specifications for Britain's biggest
submarine make for mind- boggling reading, but
it was the sheer size of the black behemoth !
which ma de its mark on the 10,000 dockyard
workers, schoolchildren, VIPs and Navy personnel
invited to the ceremony in Barrow-in-Furness,
Cumbria!
The Astute submarine under construction at
Barrow
As long as a football pitch, at 318ft, and as
wide as four double-decker buses, HMS Astute is
a third longer than any sub which has gone
before.
Her nuclear-powered engine will propel her
through the water at more than 20 knots, yet the
UK's first stealth sub makes less noise than a
baby dolphin, making her as good as undetectable
by enemy ships.
Astute's sonar is so advanced that if she was
lying in the English Channel she would be able
to detect ships leaving New York harbour 3,000
nautical miles away (although the details of how
she can do this are classified).
The nuclear reactor will never need refueling,
and with an ability to make oxygen and drinking
water out of sea water, the sub could stay
underwater for its entire 25-year life span were
it not for the needs of the crew.
Once she goes into operation in 2009, Astute
will carry a 98-man crew and stay at sea for 12
weeks on a routine patrol.
The massive submarine is slowly moved into
position.
She will carry 38 Tomahawk cruise missiles, with
a range of 1,240 miles, meaning Astute could
attack targets in North Africa with pinpoint
accuracy while sitting off the coast of
Plymouth.
Spearfish torpedoes will also be on board for
attacking ships and other subs.
But Astute will not carry nuclear weapons the
UK's Trident missiles are launched from the
Vanguard class of submarines.
The Navy's submarine chief! Captain Mike
Davis-Marks said: "The Astute class of
submarines will quite simply be unbeatable
worldwide for many years to come.
"Astute will have a capability that will keep us
right at the top of the premiership of the
world's navi es the Manchester United of
submarine nations. With our proud heritage,
Britain deserves nothing less."
Astute is the first of four vessels to be built
by BAE Systems at a total cost of 3.85 billion,
or 960 million each.
