Category Archives: UK Submarines

News, views and stories about UK submarines

Future submarine engineers buoyed by BAE Systems Barrow shipyard challenge

Leave a reply

THE next generation of engineers have been inspired by the opportunities ahead for them to be involved in designing and building the world’s most technically advanced nuclear submarines – right here on their doorstep.

thinking caps on The teams at work on the challenge

thinking caps on The teams at work on the challenge

Secondary and college students were amazed as they ventured through the giant doors of Devonshire Dock Hall at BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines, to see Astute class submarines at various stages of construction.

Future Engineers Day at BAE Systems saw 100 year nine  students from Furness secondary schools, and 20 post-16 college students, experience Barrow’s shipyard first hand.

The day was run in partnership with Barrow Engineering Project, which is supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering, during National Science and Engineering Week.

This was the third Future Engineers Day, and it showcased to students how science, technology, engineering and maths can be used in successful careers in Barrow with the global defence company.

sink or swim Future Engineers Day at BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines, with Chloe McKenna of Walney School and Paris Corkill of St Bernard’s Catholic High School, with Rob Chaplin, a BAE Graduate and STEM ambassador, during the testing process of the challenge

sink or swim Future Engineers Day at BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines, with Chloe McKenna of Walney School and Paris Corkill of St Bernard’s Catholic High School, with Rob Chaplin, a BAE Graduate and STEM ambassador, during the testing process of the challenge

Alan Dunn, operations director at BAE Systems, spoke to the students about the Astute programme and the future Successor project. He also explained the importance of team work at the business which has a workforce of around 5,000 people.

He told them “Astute is ours, and Successor could be yours.”

The day involved a team challenge, where the students would work in mixed teams with young people from different schools. Each team also had a college student mentor.

The task was devised and set by the BAE Systems STEM ambassadors, who were overseeing the progress of the teams. The ambassadors have also been working with the college students on various projects.

The challenge was set around Archimedes’ buoyancy principle. The teams were told that there was sunken cargo off the coast of Barrow and they needed to retrieve it.  They were required to design a vessel that could sink and rise to the surface again.

The students had to take on team roles, use their budget to buy materials, then design, build and eventually test their creation in a tank of water.

The students also benefited from hearing directly from people who have joined BAE Systems through  different pathways, such as a graduate, a trainee and an apprentice.

Laura Lake, a communications advisor at BAE Systems, who organised the event with the partners, thanked all those who had contributed to making the event a great success.

Mrs Lake said that BAE Systems staff had praised the students for how well they had worked together and adjusted to the challenge.

She said: “We want to show young people that engineering is fun and a great career.

“The DDH visit is a real highlight of the day. It is awe inspiring for the students.

“It was quite a hard challenge that was set and it required teamwork.

“The students did not know one another and they really adjusted well and worked as a team to figure out solutions.”

Source – In Cumbria

 

Decision to test the dismantling of nuclear submarines in Rosyth ‘right’

Leave a reply

319996463

A proposal to put the dismantling of redundant nuclear submarines to the test at Rosyth in Fife is the “right decision”, the local MP Thomas Docherty has said.

Defence Minister Philip Dunne has announced that redundant nuclear submarine dismantling would be trialled in Rosyth. If the process works, the remainder of the UK’s retired nuclear fleet will be cut up in both Plymouth and Rosyth.

But he announced a further consultation on where intermediate-level nuclear waste would be stored, widening the choice to include commercial and other defence sites.

The consultation will start next year, and the Rosyth pilot will not go ahead until a storage site has been identified.

Seven redundant nuclear submarines are thought to have been stored at Rosyth since the 1990s. Eight submarines are berthed at Devonport, with others due to come out of active service in the future.

Mr Docherty said: “What the MoD is saying – and I think most people in the community would agree – is that the safest most practical way is to dismantle the submarines at the two sites. I don’t think there’s widespread opposition to that. The bit that’s more controversial is what happens to the nuclear materials. The MoD have said nothing will happen until storage has been approved. ”

However, SNP Lochgelly and Cardenden Fife councillor Ian Chisholm said he was concerned Rosyth could be left as a nuclear dump for 20 years.

He said: “It’s the things that are not in the report’s conclusions I worry about not the things that are in it.

“It’s a bit of a fudge in that we are still years away from getting rid of this radiation hazard from Rosyth.

“I had hoped the hulks would be towed complete, down to Devonport where they belong and where they were serviced when Rosyth lost out on the work and kobs. It is now the MoD’s decision to dismantle one sub’s radioactive pressure vessel on site at Rosyth. The only plus point is they have decided the pressure vessel should be removed in one piece but the fly in the ointment is where that piece should be stored.

“The MoD now say that if the pilot is successful the remaining subs will be dismanted at both Rosyth and Devonport but I take that with a pinch of salt. From previous MoD discussions it seems the pressure vessels are too “hot” to go straight to long term storage and would need to cool for 20 years above ground.

“But depressingly the subs will stay exactly as they are until a suitable Intermediate Level Waste site is selected.”

MoD programme manager John Davis said: “Decisions have now been taken, subject to regulatory and other statutory approvals, on where the initial phases of submarine dismantling will take place…

“No radioactive waste will be removed from the submarines, however, without a disposal or storage solution being agreed.”

Source – The Courier

UK Nuclear submarines will be dismantled in Plymouth and Rosyth

Leave a reply

THE Ministry of Defence has confirmed that old nuclear submarines will be cut up in Devonport.

But fears that Plymouth could become the UK’s nuclear graveyard have been eased.

Defence Minister Philip Dunne said yesterday that submarine dismantling would be put to the test in Rosyth in Scotland. If the process works, the remainder of the UK’s retired nuclear fleet will be cut up in both Plymouth and Rosyth.

But he announced a further consultation on where intermediate-level nuclear waste would be stored, widening the choice to include commercial and other defence sites.

The consultation will start next year, and the Rosyth pilot will not go ahead until a storage site has been identified.

Fears were raised at the start of the initial consultation that intermediate-level nuclear waste could be stored in Plymouth for many years waiting for a disposal site to be chosen.

There are thought to be about seven redundant nuclear submarines now stored in Devonport. Their nuclear reactors have been removed.

Oliver Colvile, the MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said: “I would have some concerns if it was going to be stored in Plymouth. The best place to go would be Sellafield.”

Mr Colvile said the dismantling project reinforced the case to keep Devonport as one of the UK’s strategic naval bases. “To maintain the skills base in between dismantling, the Royal Navy has to make sure surface ship refitting happens here.

“Plymouth without the Royal Navy would be a shame. About 25,000 people in the city’s travel to work area depend on defence industries in some way.”

Alison Seabeck, Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View, said the news made it less likely that the city would be seen as the country’s nuclear graveyard.

“The fact that they are widening the scope for an intermediate-level waste site suggests that they are not looking at Plymouth. But they are pushing the project into the long grass to save money. The time scale is very long.

“I do think it’s a good thing that the pilot is being done in Rosyth to make sure the process is right.”

But she said the dismantling process was “really quite tidy and clean”.

A Plymouth City Council spokesman said: “We anticipated that Devonport would be one of the locations for the dismantling of decommissioned submarines given its highly skilled and experienced workforce.

“The council’s response to the consultation was clear that Devonport is not a suitable location for the storage of intermediate level waste and this remains our position.

“The MoD’s statement says no radioactive waste will be removed from the submarines until a storage solution is agreed and we will want to ensure this remains the case.

“This is a very important issue for Plymouth and the MoD need to be open and transparent about its plans and it needs to consult fully at every stage.”

Source – This is Plymouth

RN – Cox’n(SM) Joe Shield MBE crosses the bar

Leave a reply

 

Cox’n (SM) Joe Shield MBE crossed the bar today after a battle with ill health. Cox’n of HMS Onyx & HMS Opossum (Amongst others). Joe will always be remembered enjoying himself on the one hand with a tin of cider in his other – Resurgam.

No British submarines to patrol Falkland Islands

1 Reply

THE Navy is finding it “increasingly difficult” to deploy a nuclear hunter-killer submarine to patrol British waters around the Falkland Islands.

The-HMS-Tireless-is-out-of-actionThe HMS Tireless is out of action

Senior sources made the warning last night, three weeks after the Sunday Express reported exclusively that the forced return of HMS Tireless means that just one of Britain’s five Trafalgar-class submarines is fully operational and even that is about to undergo a brief period of maintenance after duties in the Middle East.

Submarines proved their effectiveness in the Falklands War when HMS Conqueror sank the General Belgrano. However, the Conqueror was decommissioned in 1990 and the hunter-killer fleet is “now well beyond its sell-by date”.

I have always argued that we need to have a submarine on permanent deployment in the South Atlantic but this was reduced to occasional deployment. Now we seem not able to do that, either.

Admiral Sandy Woodward

Last night Admiral Sandy Woodward, who led the Task Force to recapture the islands in 1982, called the situation “very worrying”. He said: “I have always argued that we need to have a submarine on permanent deployment in the South Atlantic but this was reduced to occasional deployment. Now we seem not able to do that, either.”

Hunter-killer submarines are needed to carry out vital duties, including protecting Britain’s Trident missile-carrying Vanguard submarines which patrol the North Atlantic.

However, HMS Torbay is undergoing maintenance, HMS Trenchant will need servicing after its deployment in the Middle East, HMS Talent is awaiting decommissioning and HMS Triumph, which should have been decommissioned last year, is being used for training .

HMS Astute, the first of our new £1.2billion Astute class submarines, is still not fully operational.

Tireless, dubbed HMS Tired, was forced to return to base last month due to a coolant leak in its nuclear reactor. Sources suggest it could be out of action for 10 months.

Last night naval sources suggested the likelihood of an Argentine seaborne invasion was “almost non-existent”. However, submarines have long been regarded as the “secret weapon of ultimate deterrence” against Argentine aggression.

Details of their deployment are never made public but last year Navy sources let it be known when HMS Talent was sent to the islands to put a lid on any threat of Argentine aggression during the 30th anniversary of the conflict.

The Navy aims to send a hunter-killer nuclear submarine to South Atlantic waters at least twice in 12 months.

Last night former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West said Britain is “now paying the price” for the 10-year delay in ordering the Astute-class replacements.

“Even when they come on line fully, we will not have the eight submarines which, I believe, is the minimum number we should have in our locker to undertake the tasks required.”

Last night a Ministry of Defence spokesman said there were contingency plans to increase the military footprint in the South Atlantic if required but there was no suggestion of any need to do this at present.

Source – The Express

Former submariner to sign copies of his new book in Plymouth

1 Reply

A FORMER Royal Navy submariner will be signing copies of his new book later  this month.

Ian Franklin, from Newton Ferrers, has said proceeds after costs from the  book, Stand By To Surface, will support a submarine museum exhibit.

HMS Alliance, Mr Franklin’s first submarine, is undergoing a £6million refit  at the RN Submarine Museum.

He will be signing copies of his book based on life aboard HMS Orca in the  60s, between 11am and 1.30pm at Waterstones, New George Street, on March  23.

Source – This is Plymouth

US operating five submarines in Persian Gulf

Leave a reply

File photo shows USS Springfield.

File photo shows USS Springfield.
The number of US submarines deployed to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman has reached five with the dispatch of the USS Springfield (SSN-761) to the region.

The USS Columbia (SSN-771) is operating west of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key oil transit route. The US has also stationed eight minesweeping ships in international waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

The United Kingdom has also deployed HMS Trenchant, a Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered submarine, to the Sea of Oman.
Financial woes in the United States have forced Washington to reduce its military presence in the Persian Gulf.
The news comes after the US administration was forced to sign into effect the spending cuts known as the sequester last Friday, which will take USD85 billion from the US federal budget in 2013.
About half of the cuts, or USD46 billion, will affect the US military sector, the most sensitive of which will be altering plans for the deployment of Pentagon’s naval assets.
While the Pentagon had been previously considering plans to assign two of its 10 aircraft carriers to the Persian Gulf, the giant budgetary cuts have now forced the Department of Defense to deploy only one of those aircraft carriers to the region.
Source – Press TV

UK – Minister insists leak in reactor of nuclear submarine was ‘very small’

Leave a reply

A MINISTER has insisted a leak in the reactor compartment of Devonport-based nuclear-powered submarine HMS Tireless was “very small”.

MP Philip Dunne made the statement as campaigners accused the Royal Navy of a “cover-up”, suggesting the leak was more serious than first indicated.

Ian Avent, chairman of the Plymouth residents’ group Community Awareness Nuclear Storage and Radiation, has called on Plymouth Moor View Labour MP Alison Seabeck to press the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for answers about safety concerns.

As previously reported in The Herald, HMS Tireless is undergoing repair in Devonport Dockyard after returning to Faslane Naval Base at the beginning February with the leak.

Mr Avent said: “A leak in the cooling system of a nuclear reactor is a far from trivial occurrence, and some very serious questions need to be asked about just how this incident occurred, what risks it poses, and what steps have been taken to provide protection to the public, dockyard personnel, and submarine crew members.

“We appreciate that submarine operations are a sensitive topic for the Navy, but this has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with safety.  To date the Navy has said nothing to reassure residents about the problems on board the submarine, fuelling fears that a significant incident is being covered up.

“There are very obvious risks in keeping ageing submarines in service beyond their design life, and the MoD must under no circumstances be allowed to relax submarine safety standards to compensate for delays in bringing new Astute class submarines into service”.

Responding, Mr Dunne, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, said: “The recent coolant leak onboard HMS Tireless was a very small quantity and was caused by a very small defect in a system within the sealed reactor compartment of the submarine. There was no risk to the public, environment or the crew.”

He said it was too early to confirm the cost or timescale of repairs.

“The impact of this defect on other submarines has been fully considered and, accordingly, it is not deemed necessary to carry out additional maintenance or inspections,” he said.

An MoD spokesman added: “The MoD stresses that there was no and there is no risk to the public, environment or the crew.”

Source – The Plymouth Herald

Barrow built submarine due to be commissioned into Royal Navy today

Leave a reply

HMS Ambush off Rhu spit near Faslane

BARROW-built Ambush is due to officially join the Royal Navy today.

A commissioning ceremony will take place at Faslane naval base on the Clyde where the 7,400-tonne sub will officially become “Her Majesty’s Ship”, or HMS Ambush. The second Astute-class attack submarine was launched in January 2011 at BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The nuclear-powered submarine arrived at her home port of HM Naval Base Clyde in September last year where she has undergone extensive sea trials. Ambush is 97 metres-long and holds around 100 personnel. She travels at a speed of up to 30 knots.

Source – North West Evening mail

Thales sonar for new British submarines

2 Replies

Thales UK is to supply its Sonar 2076 fully integrated search-and-attack  submarine sonar system to BAE Systems for use on new British vessels.

The submarines, the sixth and seventh Astute class vessels of the British  navy, are being built by BAE Systems Maritime-Submarines in Cumbria.

“Thales is proud to be supplying Sonar 2076 for all seven Astute class  submarines,” said Phil Naybour, head of Thales UK’s naval business.

“This successful program reflects the skill and dedication of our teams …  and also the close support and cooperation we have received from BAE Systems and  the Ministry of Defense.”

The sonar system to be supplied will include both inboard and outboard bow,  fin, intercept and flank arrays and inboard processing equipment.

“BAE Systems is pleased to award Thales UK these important contracts for the  sonar systems for the sixth and seventh Astute class submarines,” said Ian  Hawkes, head of Combat Systems, BAE Systems Maritime-Submarines.

“Placing these contracts not only continues a well-established and enduring  relationship with Thales UK, it also helps the submarine enterprise to meet the  submarine program affordability challenge by obtaining economy of scale through  batch procuring the sonar.”

Thales said its involvement with the Astute class building program is not  limited to sonar gear. It also supplies two non-hull penetrating CM010 optronic  masts, electronic support systems and communications and emergency buoys.

Source – UPI.com