Attack submarines stuck in port waiting for maintenance

Britain’s “hunter-killer” submarines have been stuck in port for up to two years because of a shortage of maintenance docks.
The Astute-class submarines, the newest in the Royal Navy’s fleet, were designed to hunt Russian submarines and torpedo targets from up to 14 miles away. They are the largest and most powerful attack submarines the navy has operated.
However, none of the class has completed an operational voyage so far this year, while one has been stuck in Faslane — HMNB Clyde — for two years, The Sun reported.
HMS Ambush, which required a £2.1 million repair after colliding with a merchant ship in 2016, has been in Faslane since August 2022, while another submarine, HMS Audacious, has been in the naval base at Devonport for 15 months. A third, HMS Artful, has reportedly been in dock for 14 months at HMNB Clyde.
However, in May the navy said the newest of the Astute class, HMS Anson, was one step closer to operational capabilities, having successfully completed tests in the Atlantic.
It said Anson had spent time in waters off the UK coast and then sailed further north of Scotland to test her weapons systems, where she had successfully fired Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk test missiles. Anson had also been assessed at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Centre (Autec) in the waters around the Bahamas.
The struggle to get the Astute-class boats out to sea is said to be a knock-on effect of the Vanguard class ageing.
“The priority is the continuous at-sea deterrent, so when there is a conflict between Astute and Vanguard-class work, it goes to the bomber,” a defence source said. “This is further challenged by visiting boats who also use the dockyard facilities.”
Another aspect of the delay in getting the other Astute-class submarines operational is thought to be a period during which the shiplift at HMNB Clyde was out of order. The shiplift, a crane to lift submarines out of the water, was out of action after the firm supplying it with ropes closed down. It is now back in order.
The Astute class of submarines is replacing the older, Trafalgar class boats. Only HMS Triumph, the last Trafalgar class submarine, has been on a mission this year.
It set out for the Mediterranean and was expected to stalk Russian submarines operating out of the Tartus base in Syria, but turned back at Gibraltar. Having returned to Devonport, it is due to be decommissioned.
A navy spokesman said: “You’ll understand we never talk about submarine operations, but rest assured British waters are always fully protected with a range of assets including warships, patrol aircraft and submarines.”
The US Navy’s Autec, off Andros Island southwest of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, is centred around a deep coral reef bowl, known as the Tongue of the Ocean.
The basin, which is 20 miles wide and 150 miles long, is filled with sensors and hydrophones to record data on how well a submarine, torpedo or sonar is performing.