Two nuclear-powered attack submarines came in to HM Naval Base Clyde on Friday, a United States Navy Virginia-class boat arriving in the morning and the Royal Navy’s newest hunter-killer, HMS Agamemnon, following later in the day.
Neither navy has identified the American submarine, and visits of this kind are not usually announced in advance for reasons that need little explaining. American submarines call at Faslane regularly to take on stores, change crew members and rest their people, often after periods working in the North Atlantic and the waters north of Scotland.
The Virginia class is the current American attack submarine, displacing around 7,800 tonnes dived and armed with Mk 48 heavyweight torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles, with the later blocks carrying additional vertical launch tubes. The United States Navy has more than twenty in commission and is building more at Groton in Connecticut and Newport News in Virginia, and the type is the same one Australia is due to buy under the first phase of the AUKUS agreement.
Agamemnon’s arrival was her first at the base that will be her home. The sixth Astute-class boat sailed from the BAE Systems yard at Barrow-in-Furness on 25 September for contractor sea trials, thirteen years after her keel was laid, and she completed the passage north over the following week.
Announcing the start of those trials, the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, said: “In an increasingly dangerous world, sea power remains fundamental to keeping our country and people safe. Our submarine fleet is essential to that effort, which is why I am delighted that HMS Agamemnon, the sixth of our Astute-class submarines, has now begun sea trials.
“She embodies the best of British engineering and the professionalism of our submariners and will be one of the most advanced submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy. As we continue to strengthen our warfighting readiness, HMS Agamemnon will play a central role in keeping the United Kingdom safe, contributing to NATO’s collective defence and ensuring we are ready to lead, fight and win.”
The two boats are not far apart in size or in what they are asked to do. Both are built to escort ballistic missile submarines, hunt other submarines and surface ships, put special forces ashore, gather intelligence and strike inland with cruise missiles, and British and American attack boats have operated closely together in the North Atlantic for decades.
That relationship is also being built into the next generation of hardware as the Barrow yard is constructing the four Dreadnought-class ballistic missile submarines using a missile compartment designed jointly with the United States for its own Columbia class, and SSN-AUKUS, the British design that will replace the Astutes, is to be built with American technology and sold to Australia as well. Faslane, meanwhile, is in the middle of a long programme of work under the Clyde Transformation Programme, including three new floating docks that the Treasury confirmed last week will be competed among British yards only.
