Graeme Downie, Labour MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, raised concerns in Parliament regarding the availability of submarine berths for repair and maintenance in both Scotland and across the UK.
He asked what steps the Ministry of Defence is taking to ensure the long-term availability of these crucial facilities, vital to supporting the UK’s submarine fleet.
In response, Luke Pollard, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Defence, affirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring the continuous availability of submarine berths to support operations, including the Continuous at Sea Deterrent.
Pollard explained: “The Government is committed to ensuring the availability of submarine berths to support submarine operations, which includes the Continuous at Sea Deterrent. We are focussed on the long-term infrastructure development of His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde and HMNB Devonport to support the United Kingdom’s submarines.”
For reasons of operational security, further details regarding specific berths were not disclosed.
This issue ties into the wider context of the Royal Navy’s infrastructure challenges, as highlighted by Navy Lookout. In short, upgrading dockyard facilities has become one of the limiting factors preventing the Royal Navy from maximising submarine availability. Currently, as pointed out here by NavyLookout, delays in these upgrades mean there are not enough dry docks to meet the Royal Navy’s maintenance needs.
For instance, the shiplift at HMNB Clyde can only handle a single submarine at a time, and facilities at Devonport Dockyard are currently under renovation, leading to further restrictions on maintenance capacity. While the upgrades underway are expected to improve the situation, the short-term impact has been significant, with submarines stuck alongside awaiting dock availability. I advise you read the full article for a more in-depth picture of the issue.
Yes, but think of the money ‘we’ saved by running down our armed forces.
Did we?
I suspect we will spend far more building them back.
Hollowing things out isn’t a zero sum game.
Painfully relearning things is expensive.
We came perilously close to ending loads of capabilities like medium gun barrel production. 5-10 years that would have been totally gone.
I think Larry was being sarcastic ngl
Thank you Beh!
SB is a decent bloke so I am glad to have his thoughts.
Has there been any progress on the MOD’s Additional Fleet Time Docking Capability (AFTDC) programme, to acquire two floating docks?
There is one floating dock operational for the Astute class right now
The ship lift isnt a floating dock
Excellent question. 👍 Any knowledgeable answers available? 🤔
Peace negotiations with Putin has to be undertaken now and four temporarily occupied regions by the Russian army,ceded to Russia. World Parliament of Peace President Vitali Druzhinin is calling for such extraordinary playlist of geopolitical domino chessboard games. No other options other viable for now. God save our King Charles III and illumine His Majesty to guide such negotiations with Putin with wisdom and knowledge
“…is calling for such extraordinary playlist of geopolitical Domino chessboard games.” Ummm…er…huh, what? Sorry, need to request a decoding or translation of that sentence segment into the King’s English. 🤔
There is one of largest docks in UK available just a few miles from Faslane which would require modest upgrading but could dock both a Queen Elizabeth class and an SSN.
Which is that one, but iirc from the docks that can dock QNLZ itll either have a lack of space or security issue
Having had to survey a dock to take a RN SSN abroad I have some understanding of the infrastructure needed. Inchgreen dock in Greenock would provide safety assurance for both the Carriers and SSN force as they age. All sorts of barriers would be put in place but the option of using it as an emergency dock is feasible and it might be possible to fund outside the Defence budget.