Someone didn't keep it on the wet bit, on the rocks off Skye according to sky news. That will cost a few bob to fix.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 22 Oct 10 at 11:06
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Nuclear powered sub aground. Spokesperson says it's not a nuclear incident.
I know what she means but.................
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The Captain is going to have some explaining to do!
Can just see the headlines now - ' Non-Astute captain grounds the Astute,' with potential to become even more convoluted once he is court martialled - non astute non captain grounded for grounding........?
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I would think that the crew will still be "working up", and not yet fully operational.
Seems that someone hasn't grasped the basics of navigation.
Or was daft enough to believe the satnav. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 22 Oct 10 at 11:27
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Now that I know where she is, and what was going on, she would have been almost stationary, and carrying out routine training activities.
Still got it wrong big time though.
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>> I would think that the crew will still be "working up", and not yet fully
>> operational.
"It was commissioned at the end of the summer and described as one of the stealthiest ever built in Britain." (from the article)
I can imagine the scenario.... a "made for TV" play, cast of various overpaid actors:
"On a War Footing"
Scene 1:-
Cap'n: "Silent running, Number One, manoeuvre to attack position."
No. 1: "Aye aye, Cap'n. (gives orders for silent running)"
The "Astute": "CRASH!!!!"
Cap'n: "WTF was *that*?"
No. 1: "WTF was *that*?"
Enemy: "WTF was *that*?" (in a heavy foreign accent)
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>> Cap'n: "WTF was *that*?"
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>> No 1 "WTF was *that*?"
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>> Enemy: "WTF was *that*?" (in a heavy foreign accent)
>>
Cap'n: "WTF was *that*?"
Old Navy "WTF was *that*?" Chuckle, they have screwed that one up!
Been there done that.
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Well these things don't tend to happen. Like HMS Trafalgar running aground off Skye in 2002. That did't happen either. Those rocks must be very stealthy.
It would be even more bizarre if Vanguard were to have run into a French nuclear submarine in the middle of the Atlantic wouldn't it.... oh it did.
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The spokeswoman added: "There is no indication of any environmental impact."
What about the the rocks ? :-)
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From the report: 'She said the vessel was on the surface conducting a "personnel transfer" when her rudder became grounded.'
Is the rudder the lowest point on the sub? Or were they trying to reverse into the parking space?
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Sometimes these reversing sensors aren't too accurate.....
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Never navigate solely relying on your Tom Tomahawk.
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I suspect Commander Andy Coles had better sharpen his pencils. He is due for a long commision commanding a desk for the rest of his career.
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>> I suspect Commander Andy Coles had better sharpen his pencils. He is due for a
>> long commision commanding a desk for the rest of his career.
>>
Don't put money on it. They cost too much to train and there are not that many around.
A minor cockup in the grand scale of disasters. Knuckles rapped is my guess.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 22 Oct 10 at 12:46
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Put him to work at Perisher then.
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Left hand down a bit. For those of you with long enough memories.
John
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Ha just what came to mind... followed by that drawn out expensive crunching sound.
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>> Left hand down a bit. For those of you with long enough memories.
"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 of using your hands.
"This is all fly-by-wire technology including only an auto pilot rather than a steering column."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11605365
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Which means they were downstairs having a brew with the boat (I know the technical term!) on autopilot and a junior rating upstairs keeping an eye out for boats flying a skull & cross-bones?
John
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The photo in the link above shows her diesels running, this would normally indicate that the reactor has been shut down.
Good to see that the amateur experts are in full flight.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 22 Oct 10 at 13:30
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You laugh about the satnav ON but seriously GPS with marine mapping (assuming you take notice of it!) is the biggest improvement in sea safety I've seen in my lifetime.
Just looking on the laptop at the chart for that area (assuming the position on linked webpage is broadly correct) and if you really have to reverse up to drop off a few guys for some shopping there are the usual Scottish west coast rock traps dotted about closer inshore but there are a couple of places where something that big could get within 200m of the beach.
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Another larger ship very close to where the sub has grounded...
www.geograph.org.uk/photo/446635
If that ship was to go a little *left hand down a bit* there are some nasty underwater rocks between the end of the pier and its current course.
And perhaps this is what those on the sub should have seen for some guidance...
www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1445288
Last edited by: Fenlander on Fri 22 Oct 10 at 14:09
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An old salt in Portsmouth told me about a Royal Navy warship which ran aground in the harbour.
It was aground on one side, and they came up with a simple plan to refloat it.
Wait until high tide and send a warship past as fast as it could go to create a bow wave.
My contact told me the plan worked.
Their main concern was to stop the speeding warship before it smacked the harbour wall, but they managed to do that as well.
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errr, would it not have worked just as well going OUT of the harbour but without the risk?
John
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"I suspect Commander Andy Coles had better sharpen his pencils."
Is Andy short for Andrea? Perhaps she trying to reverse out of a parking bay whilst applying lippy.
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...errr, would it not have worked just as well going OUT of the harbour but without the risk?...
The grounded ship was also not far from the harbour wall, so a warship leaving harbour would not have had sufficient time or distance to gather much speed before it passed the grounded ship.
My man told me the warship going into harbour at full tilt was quite a sight.
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One of the tugs standing by to help Astute will be scrapped next year to save money. Kind of ironic.
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Afloat and under its own power now according to PM - Wonder who was driving. I have an acquaintance whose son was meant to be driving the one that hit the undersea mountain off Rockall a few years ago - interesting tales after the excreta hit the extractor over that one..
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Probably an agency driver with an earring.
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On his phone and 'avin a fag
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simult' watching his telly and slurpin' a coffee, deffo a left 'ooker driver.
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A few years ago Radio 4 ran a comedy series called Deep Trouble.
From the plot summary:
"In an increasingly uncertain defence environment, a deadly new arms race has begun. In an attempt to secure her boundaries, Britain has deployed the very latest sub-sea military technology
Beneath and beyond the front line, these are the adventures of the HMS Goliath. A 55,000 tonne M-Class nuclear stealth submarine, prowling 5,000 metres below the surface -----
--
Manned by idiots"
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CGN.
I listened to both series (IIRC there were two). Not as good as The Navy Lark it was initially compared to, but 'curates egg' stuff.
I enjoyed it.
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...simult' watching his telly and slurpin' a coffee, deffo a left 'ooker driver...
You forgot the Pot Noodle.
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ON
I can't help feeling that this is all your fault.
You are a navy man.
You are a Scot.
The accident happened in Scotland.
QED You must be to blame. I should keep a sharp lookout for burly men knocking at your front door, with a van waiting outside with the engine running.
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CORRECTION!!!!
I am not a Scot, I am a Londoner, I just have the sense not to live in that hell hole.
I worked in the Kyle of Lochalsh area for five years, and visited it many times over the years. No excuse, but easily done, I know of local professional seafarers who have been caught out.
I know what will be going on blame wise, and am glad that it can't be pinned on me. :-)
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The standard of reporting on the BBC yesterday afternoon was crap. They didn't have a single person on who knew a thing about the subject. It was all locals or "experts" that have never seen the inside of a sub.
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>> The standard of reporting on the BBC yesterday afternoon was crap. They didn't have a
>> single person on who knew a thing about the subject. It was all locals or
>> "experts" that have never seen the inside of a sub.
>>
>>
Got it in one, Skoda. Fortunately most of the population don't know any better. Makes you wonder about the accuracy of the rest of their output.
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One of my colleagues, Henri, is ex SA navy. Went on board the USS Rooseveldt earlier this year, and did a great report.
Sadly, some IDIOT sub (-editor, not -marine) changed all his references to ordnance to ordInance.
Moron.
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If all the rumours about global warming are correct, then all they had to do was to wait for rising sea levels to refloat it!
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That's effectively did by waiting for the aeons old tide to rise !
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Ah, but the North of Scotland is rising, while the South of England is sinking. Something to do with the retreat of the glaciers if I recall my Geography lessons correctly. So you could be onto a loser with that tactic.
John
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>> can be found off the coast of the Applecross peninsula
There's a good driving connection, what a road!!!
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As Astute has arrived home under her own steam it can't be much more than a Tcut job to fix her. Good decision not to try and power her off the mud.
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Let's hope so - from what I've read and seen she's a stunning bit of kit - anyone know what happened to HMS Endurance after she nearly sank ? Are they scrapping her ?
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what a long line of cockups that was, have you read the report?
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I see that Astute is flying the blue ensign. Although she is being operated by a navy crew, she has not been accepted from the builder yet and is nowhere near being operational.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 25 Oct 10 at 18:52
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I saw the rather good documentary - some people shouldn't be let out on their own let alone to the South Atlantic in what was a good boat until someone broke it.
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Just found on the web, they're scrapping it and buying a second hand one from Norway - incompetence strikes again.
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But the Endurance was built in Norway. Probably cheaper to buy second hand. Although incompetence led to the requirement.
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I know, it was initially leased but MoD bought it (sort of try before you buy). Norwegians probably did well out of it.
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I assume there could still be costly damage to Astute... those tiles that cover it must be expensive and easily damaged. At least damage to those is not as critical as the Space Shuttle.
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Are there any tiles on the rudder? Hard to see as it was under water, where it should be!
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>> Are there any tiles on the rudder? Hard to see as it was under water,
>> where it should be!
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The top half of the rudder can be seen clearly.
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The tiles will not be a problem, she will be drydocked before she would need them in anger and they can be replaced.
I think the critical bit would be any damage to the rudder bearings.
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Not the only iffy (sorry iffy) bearings on that boat then ?
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>> Not the only iffy (sorry iffy) bearings on that boat then ?
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Subtle, and probably lost on many. :-)
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www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/RoyalNavysNewIcebreakerDeploysToAntarctica.htm
Looks as if they finally got it to float - list of upgrades at the end of the piece, they forgot to mention a new bath-plug - a big one.
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Golden rule No 1. Keep the water on the outside, (particularly in a submarine).
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Commander has lost his command:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11853493
"A final decision has still to be made about whether he will face a court martial."
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HMS Astute aground. - Old Navy
