HMS Astute, one of Britain's fleet of submarines has grounded on rocks off the Isle of Skye.
Officials said the incident wasn't serious. A crew of around 100 are typically aboard the ship.
A hundred of them? And they can't drive our submarine in home waters? Not serious?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
The navigable channel here is so well buoyed it's as if an aircraft decided not to use the concrete taxiway but to proceed along the rough grass 100m to the side. Either an act of culpable stupidity by the watch officer, or a failure of steering gear. Knowing the MOD, if it was the latter, they'll be content to have us believe the former.
Remember a few years ago when a British warship visiting Australia parked on the only rock in the vicinity whilst the captain was attending festivities ashore? Perhaps diversity outreach and equalities co-ordination is more important than navigation and keeping lookout in the modern navy. Are they insured if the fancy new aircraft carrier without aircraft has a collision and sinks even before it can be retired?
But you would notice, surely R, if you were off course, or likely to be off course, and stop or correct or something?
And I can't get over the priorities in the official's remarks: not 'We are deeply ashamed to admit that we've crashed a brand new submarine (or any naval vessel for that matter); those responsible are for the high jump."
It was 'no-one was hurt and there has been no environmental damage.' Perhaps the navy has no amour propre any more, not after being unable to steer in the Straits of Hormuz.
I remember the navy crashing into a French submarine in one of the larger bodies of water on the planet Raven. You would have thought there was room for two (or how ever many submarines there are lurking down there.)
I don't know enough about boating to know about lookouts and steering but I'm sure the navy didn't used to crash into things.
It is even more extraordinary when you consider that they were only about two miles from the one and only live firing range for torpedoes in the whole of the British Isles (Sound of Raasay), so these are waters that submariners should know as well as they know the Gareloch.
And I second R's comments about the buoyage - a surface boat (which this was, at the time) has no excuse at all to be outside the buoyed channel.
I don't suppose we will ever find out what happened, but I'd like to be a fly on the wall at the court martial. Or do they just get a mild ticking off these days?
Post a Comment