Subject: FW: Britain's New Submarine
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Courtesy of member Richard Peak
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.
The Astute submarine under construction at
Barrow
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 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 3.85billion, or 960million each.
She will be joined by HMS Ambush, HMS Artful and HMS
Audacious, with an option for a further three subs to come.
Defence procurement minister Lord Drayson called
Astute "a truly remarkable vessel" whose importance "cannot be over-!
estimated".
As the Duchess of Cornwall named the sub the first
such ceremony she has carried out she said: "As an admiral's wife myself,
I am delighted to be in Barrow-in-Furness today for the naming and launching of
Astute. I shall follow her progress with particular interest and hope to see
her in the near future."
She was presented with a retriever puppy, similar to
one which appears on the Astute's crest, which will be donated to Guide Dogs
for the Blind.
The boat, which will replace the Swiftsure and
Trafalgar classes, will be gently lowered into the water. It will eventually be
based in Faslane on the Clyde in Scotland.
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