His Majesty King Charles has officially commissioned HMS Agamemnon, the Royal Navy’s sixth Astute-class attack submarine, during a ceremony at BAE Systems’ Barrow-in-Furness shipyard.
Around 500 guests, including senior politicians, naval leaders, industry executives and families of the crew, attended the commissioning.
The ceremony included addresses from Defence Secretary John Healey, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, and BAE Systems chief executive Charles Woodburn.
Agamemnon’s commanding officer, Commander David Crosby, described the submarine as “a product of stealth, equipped with world-leading sensors and crewed by a highly-trained and dedicated crew. Together, they form a formidable capability, vital to protecting the United Kingdom’s security interests and supporting our global responsibilities.”
Once operational, the submarine will join her five Astute-class sisters at HM Naval Base Clyde. Capable of deploying Spearfish torpedoes against enemy submarines and surface ships, as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles to strike land targets at ranges of up to 1,000 miles, Agamemnon will contribute to protecting the UK’s nuclear deterrent, supporting carrier strike groups and safeguarding undersea infrastructure.
First Sea Lord Sir Gwyn Jenkins highlighted the significance of the milestone: “The commissioning of HMS Agamemnon and the steel cut for HMS King George VI mark significant milestones in the Royal Navy’s enduring commitment to safeguarding our nation. These achievements underscore the critical role of the Continuous at Sea Deterrent and the importance of cutting-edge warfighting capabilities in an ever-evolving threat landscape.”
On the same day, steel was cut for HMS King George VI, the fourth and final Dreadnought-class submarine. Once completed, the class will ensure the UK’s nuclear deterrent remains unbroken well into the 2060s. To recognise Barrow’s historic role in British shipbuilding and submarine construction, the King also visited the town hall where he formally granted the title of Royal Port of Barrow.
Commander “Bing”, previous and first CO of HMS Anson, he takes the boats out of build, delivers them to Faslane then leaves to go to another boat, … Achilles or Dreadnought next… whats your thoughts ? I would say Achilles
Seeing as it is taking about 20 years to build one submarine, will he still be in the Navy by then?
Are you sure about your information? Her keel was ceremonially laid on 13 October 2011 and sh was rolled out of the Devonshire Dock Hall on 19 April 2021 and launched on 20 April 2021. Do you realise (a) the detail required of building a submarine more complex than the space shuttle and (b) a calendar? 2011 – 2021 is NOT 20 years.
Think you need to study a little more
Do your recognise sarcasm ?🤔🤦♂️
Do you recognise factual evidence from back tracking and blaming “sarcasm” ?
I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick cobber
I replied to a comment, yet its me thats wrong, for stating facts and coreect information?
Maybe try being Civil, relax a bit, chill out ?
Works well enough usually.
Im done.. I explain facts about Anson, yet you cannot understand..
Have a nice day.. or is that not civil enought for you??
Thanks Dave, I’m having a great day, making some space for my new Bike, can’t wait till It’s delivered, first had one of them in 2007 (it’s not quite 20 years) but they are still great bikes.
It’s nice to have a relaxing hobby.
Alright mate? That’s the problem with the internet isn’t it? It’s only sarcasm if you know what the truth is. If you don’t then it’s misinformation that then gets passed on to other people and it then becomes their truth and for years to come people end up parroting the same old mantras that some dude on the internet just put up for a laugh. Lol, Russians need to cut all the undersea cables and free us from this mess! That last bit was sarcasm.. 😀
Yes, there’s a fine line between Sarcasm and Intellect, unfortunately some lack either !
Me ? Thick as two short planks but happy as Larry, it’s better to be this way.
Sarcasm does tend to have at least half an eye on reality surely. Isn’t that the point otherwise it’s just a playground wind up.
Yes, that’s the whole idea of sarcasm, it mixes fact and fiction in a way that makes (some) people think.
I know it’s the U.S.N. but they can build a Virginia in five years…laid down to commissioned. It takes us 20 ?
No, not 20, clearly someone has no idea how a callender works
Yes the argument is full of holes.
Sorry…just 14 then. Way better. I think you’ll find we are in 2025 now!
2011..2021 not 14 years.. not the last time I checked
A defense and an admission. Yes there was a large dollop of sarcasm involved, but HMS Agamemnon was laid down in 2013 and commissioned in 2025. That’s 12 years. Between the first cut and laying down I saw was 9 years, so that’s 21 years in total. But going back I see I was using stats from the Dreadnaught so it’s probably a bit off. By contrast the Americans are currently taking an averageof 5 years to get an attack sub into service. Until recently they were churning out a sub every 18 months. So, with a best of 12 years, it still seems a long time.
You’ve misunderstood. Multiple boats are under construction at once in Barrow. While HMS Agamemnon is undergoing sea trials, HMS Achilles is next for commissioning in 2028 , with HMS Dreadnought already a fair way along (first steel cut in 2016) followed by HMS Valiant (First steel cut 2019) and HMS Warspite (first steel cut in 2023). HMS George VI is the fourth submarine in the class, not the first.
CLEARLY not misunderstood. Its not 20 years .. Her keel was ceremonially laid on 13 October 2011 and she was rolled out of the Devonshire Dock Hall on 19 April 2021 and launched on 20 April 2021. Hardly 20 years!
I am done with trying to explain
You don’t need to explain, just relax about it, you’ll feel better if you do.
Besides 14 years is way better than 20.
I am perfeclty relaxed, luke I stated originally hardly 20!!
Some people need to understand how to use a callender and stop being a keyboard warrior.. stay in your armchair and keep taking your meds #troll #bot
Irony again.
😂
Your name states EVERYTHING about you!
I know, It’s great isn’t it.
Got it from the TVR owners site a few years back, usual sort of thing, name calling, troll calling, aggresive typing (using BIG LETTERS TO PORTRAY ANGER ) you know mate.
I thought “I know, I’ll use that as my handle”, no-one would be stupid enough to try to pick on a Halfwit.
Would they ?
Still too long all V&C’s built in 20 yrs and that was all new technology. All the S class in 9 yrs!! Not enough ship builders?
More like HMG deferring their liabilities to save money
Indeed
Sorry V&C in 8 years
As an old codger am I allowed to mention that we built the Polaris boats in less than 5 years each at a published cost of around £40 million each (obnviously made possible with my own (miniscule) efforts?
At the time we knew the Vbombers would no longer get through, Skybolt had been cancelled, so the very existence of the UK nuclear deterrent was at risk. Adding to it all we had just avoided WW3 in the Cuban missile crisis. Is’s wonderful what can be achieved when there is a real sense of urgency!
Hello Trevor, any chance you could go and help dismantle them now please, They are in the way a bit !!!
(for anyone with no clue, this is sarcasm, just thought I’d mention it before someone got all upset).
Well I still have my trusty bolt cutters and hard hat in the garage, but it might take me a while to figure it out and give you a quote. Last I heard it was up to 23 boats, so might be best to train up the grandson as well….
I grew up outside Barrow and my father was a senior electrical engineer within the dockside test organisation. Between 1963 and 1973 we saw 4 R class, 5 V&Cs, and 1S class built. Vickers employed over 25000 people and had a world wide reputation for quality and design. Then Tony Benn nationalised Ship building in 1976 and Vickers was taken over and ship building in the Uk ruined forever. After denationalisation we have seen VSEL build the T class in good order producing another world beater but since BAE took over a slow and expensive class of A boats taking almost 25 years just to get to 6 of 7 boats and at over 1 billion a pop and they don’t work. No wonder the UK has got to pot😵💫
I grew up outside Barrow and my father was a senior electrical engineer within the dockside test organisation. Between 1963 and 1973 we saw 4 R class, 5 V&Cs, and 1S class built. Vickers employed over 25000 people and had a world wide reputation for quality and design. Then Tony Benn nationalised Ship building in 1976 and Vickers was taken over and ship building in the Uk ruined forever. After denationalisation we have seen VSEL build the T class in good order producing another world beater but since BAE took over a slow and expensive class of A boats taking almost 25 years just to get to 6 of 7 boats and at over 1 billion a pop and they don’t work. No wonder the UK has got to pot😵💫
Mike, How much would I love to see the names Vickers, Armstrong, Avro, Supermarine, English Electric, De Haviland and so on. We really did rock the military world back then.
English Electric is my all time favourite name, and their (Napier) Deltic diesels are still running… if barely.
What brilliant news! They can tie this up next to the others and whinge about manning issues, training and technical problems. We really are in a deep, deep hole.