THE CAPTAIN of the British royal navy nuclear submarine that was grounded for hours yesterday in shallow waters off the Isle of Skye in Scotland could be subjected to a court-martial following the decision by senior officers to launch a full inquiry.
HMS Astute, a £1.2 billion submarine, was undergoing trials yesterday – and was not carrying any of the 38 Tomahawk nuclear missiles it will carry when it goes into service later this year – when its rudder got stuck in silt and mud in tidal waters as it was transferring men and supplies from a boat moored alongside.
The captain’s decision to carry out the operation so close to the coast, which meant it was easy for 24-hour news channels to broadcast the story, caused surprise among locals familiar with the waters. Lifeboatman Ross McKerlich said: “These big subs normally lie six miles off Kyle of Localsh. The submarine is stuck in the middle of two rocks. I have never seen a sub as big as this come this close.”
The submarine was eventually freed on the evening tide with the help of tug boats. Divers will check for damage in coming days before the boat is taken to the naval base at Faslane.
Local councillor John Straing said the tugs used yesterday were to be scrapped in cost-cutting measures. “This is exactly the kind of crisis that the tugs are in place to help to respond to.”
The boat’s captain, Cdr Andy Coles, will now face a service inquiry and could be court-martialled. Other crew members could be charged with performing a duty negligently or “hazarding” a ship through negligence. The cost of repairs to the Astute, a 7,800-tonne vessel, could run into millions of pounds.
During a television interview last month Cdr Coles displayed the new control system on the Astute, which is the biggest and most expensive hunter-killer submarine in the British navy.
“We have a brand new method of controlling the submarine, which is by platform management system, rather than the old conventional way of doing everything by using your hands. This is all fly-by-wire technology, including only an auto pilot rather than a steering column,” he said.
Last year a Trident nuclear submarine, HMS Vanguard, collided with a French submarine in the Atlantic. Both vessels were seriously damaged.
