Hutch
Nitro Member
Britain 's Behemoth Submarine
Britain launches massive sub that can hear a ship from across the Atlantic -
June 08, 2007.
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.
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 made its mark on the 10,000 dockyard workers, schoolchildren, VIPs and Navy personnel invited to the ceremony in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
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. The
massive submarine is slowly moved into position. 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 refuelling, and with an ability to make
oxygen and drinking water out of sea water, the sub could stay underwater
for its entire 25-year lifespan 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. 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. Camilla officially
launched the submarine at the ceremony. 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 navies, the very best 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 £3.85billion, or
£960million each.
Britain launches massive sub that can hear a ship from across the Atlantic -
June 08, 2007.
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.
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 made its mark on the 10,000 dockyard workers, schoolchildren, VIPs and Navy personnel invited to the ceremony in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
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. The
massive submarine is slowly moved into position. 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 refuelling, and with an ability to make
oxygen and drinking water out of sea water, the sub could stay underwater
for its entire 25-year lifespan 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. 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. Camilla officially
launched the submarine at the ceremony. 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 navies, the very best 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 £3.85billion, or
£960million each.
