A U.S. Navy Ohio-class submarine departed HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane on Friday afternoon after a short visit to the submarine base.
The ballistic missile submarine was observed leaving the base on the Gare Loch before transiting the Firth of Clyde and heading into the North Atlantic. The U.S. Navy has not publicly identified the vessel, consistent with its policy of not discussing the movements of strategic submarines.
Faslane, located near Helensburgh on Scotland’s west coast, is home to the United Kingdom’s submarine fleet and serves as the operating base for the Royal Navy’s Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines and Astute-class attack submarines.
The Ohio-class forms the backbone of the United States’ sea-based nuclear deterrent. The ballistic missile variants are equipped with Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and conduct extended deterrent patrols as part of the U.S. nuclear triad. Each Ohio-class submarine displaces around 18,000 tonnes submerged and measures approximately 170 metres in length. Powered by a nuclear reactor, the vessels are designed for long-endurance deployments, with operational cycles supported by two rotating crews.
Port visits by U.S. submarines to the United Kingdom take place periodically and are part of long-standing defence cooperation between the two countries. The United States and the United Kingdom operate closely aligned nuclear deterrent forces and both deploy variants of the Trident D5 missile from their ballistic missile submarines.
The base is also being upgraded to support the Royal Navy’s next generation of nuclear deterrent submarines. The Dreadnought-class boats, which will replace the Vanguard class, are currently under construction and are expected to enter service in the early 2030s.
At least their subs can put to see. How many of are Astute class can actually put to sea or are at sea. Trust me, the number is an utter embarrassment courtesy of the Government and dare I say a succession of Naval leaders. The Admirals wanted shiny carriers and so the rest of the surface fleet was sacrificed.
Welcome comments by others as debate is essential. The British public have no idea the appalling state of our military across air, sea and land.
Thankfully. The Cyprus fiasco is drawing attention to it despite smoke and mirrors being deployed.
Signed a proud veteran
To be honest the USN SSN level of readiness is pretty dire as well.. when scaled. If you look the US can deploy about 36% of its SSN in a year. About the same again is definitely OS and in bits or waiting to be in bits.. and the other about 30% is against the wall.
Construction and numbers are an issue as well with only 49 boats out of a planned requirement for 66.. which is going to get worse, because of those 49 25 are Cold War LAs and seas wolfs that will be gone for 2035 and the USN only gets about 1 new boat a year ( well every 10-11 months) so it’s only so it’s very possible it will drop to the high 30s or at best low 40s. That means in a year the USN will probably be deploying 16 boats a year moving into the 2030s.. it should be able to deploy about 33 in a year for its needs.
The reality of the UK need is about 9 with 3-4 deployments in a year we have 5 and are getting 1-2.
Everyone is really having a bit of a shitshow with their SSNs.. the worry is when china is not longer a shiteshow… and that’s looking like the mid 2030s when the USN will be at its lowest ebb.
The big problem with SSNs is unlike every other ship you have to plan for their retirement with massive post commissioning costs.. we are using a good percentage of our SSN dry dock to decommission old SSNs.. because it’s only now we have bothered to even take decommissioning seriously.. every UK SSN that ever existed is still sitting around waiting for its high grade waste to be managed and we have not even built the 60 billion pounds last a geological age facility to bury those bit in yet…. SSNs are profoundly powerful..but profoundly difficult just consider HMS dreadnought 46 years after she was decommissioned and has been maintained ever since.. infact management of the decommissioned fleet has so far cost 500million and the total liability cost of decommissioned nuclear submarines siting at Rosyth and Devonport is about 7.5 billion pounds.
Many thanks for this very informative post. I particularly noted the costs you quote at the end. I suggest the wider public has no idea as to this quite enormous liability.
Thank you for responding to my plea for comments/posts.
Disgraceful state of affairs tbf my Uncle would turn he was in The Vanguard post 2nd WW stationed in Singapore back when we were a proud Naval Nation remember in the late 60s The Fleet was in Lyme Bay and Torbay my family felt v proud at this time and were amazed at the size of it on a boat trip around the ships anchored