HMS Audacious, the fourth of seven Astute-class attack submarines being built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy, set sail from Barrow-in-Furness for the first time on the 6th of April. 

BAE say that new ways of working and amended protocols have been introduced at the site, in line with Government guidelines, “to enable a small team of employees to provide vital support to the Royal Navy ahead of the boat’s departure, while protecting their health and wellbeing”.

The submarine was guided into open water for the first time before setting off on her inaugural journey to Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, say the firm.

Audacious Under Construction MOD 45155779.jpg
Astute Class submarine Audacious under construction at Barrow in Furness shipyard in Cumbria.

Cliff Robson, Managing Director of BAE Systems Submarines, said:

“This is an incredibly difficult time for employees, their families and the community but, as is often the case in times of great adversity, it has been truly humbling to see everyone come together to support the Government’s critical defence programmes and help deliver HMS Audacious.”

Ian Booth, Chief Executive of the Submarine Delivery Agency, said:

“The departure of HMS Audacious from Barrow is a key milestone in the Astute Class programme. The delivery of our incredibly complex submarine programmes depends on the extremely skilled submarine workforce and close collaboration with our industrial partners across the supply chain to deliver a first class product for the Royal Navy. I am extremely grateful to everyone involved in the significant efforts to meet this milestone and the key roles they have played in the shadow of these unprecedented circumstances to get HMS Audacious to sea.”

Image
Image via BAE Systems.

The boat’s departure comes days after the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, thanked the defence industry for its efforts to continue to deliver critical and nationally important defence operations and programmes during the difficult and unprecedented times the country is facing.

As SaveTheRoyalNavy.org reported in October last year, the boat has suffered issues with delays and a revised delivery schedule was delayed. Their article is well worth reading for an indepth look at the delays.

“HMS Audacious is in effect a ‘batch II’ boat with some significant internal changes from the first 3 boats and there is a long and complex legacy of political and industrial mistakes that have affected the Astute programme.”

The Royal Navy say that the 97 metre, 7,400-tonne Astute-class submarines are the most capable submarines ever built for the Royal Navy. The first three submarines, HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful are in service, while the final three Astute-class are at various stages of construction at Barrow.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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59 COMMENTS

    • I disagree with him completely but why do you have to make the benefit remark ? Do you actually know he’s on benefits and why, or is it just a standard slur ?

      • Why? Why not? He is a troll and I find his churlish comments and answers amusing. Can I ask are you the reply police?

        • Because your answer doesn’t challenge him. Ignore him if he’s a troll, ask him why he thinks that (probably a waste of time), or give him a short answer that doesn’t involve a cheap stereotype. If you post a public forum you have to accept that perhaps your comments may receive a challenge otherwise we might as well not bother.

          • Alas you are correct, I have had this discussion with Danielle a time or two, I have a habit of identifying a typical troll and then baiting him, mostly on technical issues although on occasion other areas, as I like to see them be totally unable to justify their usual piffle or rant. Should I stop, yep, should I be more mature, of course, can I stop, probably not as the fools do amuse me lol. Cheers and stay safe.

          • Fair enough – as I said, I disagree with him completely. Stay safe and hopefully we’ll talk again.

          • Hey! Let me try! Ummmmm…. I TOTALLY disagree with this program due to the fact that it’s a waste of money that could better be spent on designer RN uniforms from… Uhhh.. POSH SPICE… yeah… That’s it…

            Cheers.

          • HI Helions,

            That made me laugh – thanks 🙂

            Stay Safe mate, and everyone else – even the trolls.

            Cheers CR

          • I guess landing on ones head too many times doesn’t help – lol. Nothing wrong with a bit of banter if you know what I mean…

          • Who me or Harold! Had a few crappy landings to be sure, feet, knees, chin!!! Followed by lots of fucks!!!!!!!! And a left ankle in a rabbit hole, as I try to do a PLF to the right and yep….snap! Thinking about it my head would have been the best place ? Stay safe!

          • I remember my first static line jump. Like a muppet, I closed my eyes just after taking that first big step, when going through the door. I consequently tumbled causing the lines to twist. Lots of kicking and swinging to unbind them. Must be mad, as it didn’t stop me progressing on to free fall and then on to the para-wings.

    • And there you go….repeated troll behaviour. Anyway as I have asked prior, please give us a run down on your concept of operations, TTPs, formation strengths etc of your long called for and oft repeated demand for a purely Defence force. Take this as an opportunity to show you are not a troll.

  5. Hope the rest of the batch 2’s speed up now with lessons learned.

    The Battleships of the modern RN.

      • I know these are a sort of ‘batch 2’ but the lessons were supposed to be learned from Astute itself. This delay is pretty poor considering we took long enough to get the Astute build going. We ran the S and T’s ragged to keep the Fleet boat numbers up only for this delay, its pretty poor that we’ve only got the first 3 in and they were delayed.

        • Im curious to know what differences their are compared to the first three but presume that information is not for public consumption.If its a case of short term pain for long term gain then the delays make sense,but as you say the Astute Build was problematic from the start,seems a bit risky too add more hiccups.

    • Harold

      We need submarines as part of a balanced response to defend our country and maintain our democracy.

      The NHS spend £3bn per week and that is an eye watering amount of money, but is not particularly efficient.

      Whilst I admire the staff, throwing more money at the NHS is not necessarily the answer.

      Also why does it have to be at the expense of a nuclear submarine that would only fund the NHS for 1 week as opposed to getting 25 years with of service.

      short sighted my friend

    • Why should the NHS get any more money? Seriously though, the NHS gets just under 10% of the UK’s GDP, defence by contrast is just under 2% (according to the NAO). The NHS has become a crutch for society, who are mostly too ignorant or lazy to look after themselves in a healthy or beneficial lifestyle. It’s the same with schools, because the state provides, people take it for granted, therefore don’t invest in them and I don’t mean financially. A large minority of parents basically offload responsibility on to schools, expecting them to develop the necessary social and etiquette skills that should be taught at home. Until people are made to invest in the NHS, schools and don’t get me started on state benefit system, nothing will change and the NHS will still be money pit wanting more. I’m not slagging off the NHS and those who work for it, but society in general who abuse it.

      Defence is a necessary evil. If you don’t have the capability or the will to use it, you will be bullied it is that simple. As a hypothetical example, what would happen in the near future, if relations between the UK and and EU break down due to fishery rights? Yes, you can send a OPV, but what if it came to blows? Would an OPV be enough to deter continued incursion into UK waters by EU fishermen, backed up by their own OPVs? The answer would be no. Along with the carrot you need the stick to back it up. History has shown what happens when politics is based around appeasement, it leads to wars. As not every Nation plays by the rules. I applaud you for believing in higher moral values, but humanity in general doesn’t follow them. They are self serving, greedy and bigoted, before they see or are made to see the light.

      The Astute class, is at the moment probably the best sea going weapon system on the planet. It is a super stealthy hunter, specifically designed to hunt other submarines and anything on the surface. Granted, the newer AIP subs can give it a run for its money. But the Astute class can actively hunt, whilst AIPS are limited due to the underwater duration. If we had to chose between the two types, I would still opt for the more capable and flexible nuke sub every time.

      • The NHS actually consumes 28% of public spending and 10% of GDP .
        We actually spend 1.6% of GDP on defence .
        In 2001 we spent 25 billion on defence in 2019 we spent 40 billion on defence
        In 2001 we spent 39 billion on the NHS in 2019 we spent 158 billion.
        The NHS employs 1.7 million people and another 462,758 through local authorities but pays the wages .
        It is the 3 rd largest employer in the world or 2 if you add the 462,758 indirectly employed a massive 36% of its budget is spent on wages and pensions.
        There are 2.2 administrative staff to every frontline staff in Germany it is 1 administration staff to 1 frontline staff.
        NHS productivity has fallen every year since 2007 .

        The NHS is slowly bleeding the public spending budget dry .
        We want better defence we want a better NHS but no one wants to pay for it .
        And there are more votes in the NHS than defence.

      • ‘The NHS has become a crutch for society, who are mostly too ignorant or lazy to look after themselves in a healthy or beneficial lifestyle’

        And here I was only *partially* expecting quasi-eugenics nonsense to appear on this site, in the comments.

    • A huge sum of money in spent on health and rightly so. A tiny amount of money is spent on defence and there is really nothing to cut any further. If you want facts look at defence vs health spending in the 1970s for each decade. Health spending increases, defence spending reduces.
      I can’t see the point of your postings

    • I guess the £140.4 billion 2019\20 healthcare budget is not enough for you!
      And it still can’t to the basics
      The NHS has been a mess for decades! Its got no organisation
      And as we are seeing with the COVID outbreak thanks to your Chinese Commie pals, its overwhelmed.
      As for “dealing with the real threats”.. like yourself for instance?

  7. Worrying, Boris is in intensive care.
    Leaving aside personal concerns, which should not be ignored, the socio strategic economic future of the country is on a cusp.

    • True Trevor I couldn’t agree more. He had managed to unite the Government, politicians & most of the public in a strategy to defeat this disease. It is a long time since a British leader got up close and personal with an enemy of the state. I hope he prevails.

      • Hi Mark B,

        I was no fan of Boris, but he has stepped up when the country needed him the most. He has on the whole impressed me during this emergency and regardless, to have the leader of the Government down at such a crucial moment is bad news. We will soon see how robust our Cabinet style of Government is.

        Given the speed of events – it is only about 3 weeks since the number of cases started to ramp up in the UK – it will be tough for Dominic Raab to step into Boris’ shoes and get his head around it all given sudden new perspective!

        Best wishes to Boris and his family and all of those who have lost loved ones or who have loved ones who are ill.

        Take Care one and all.

        CR

        • ChariotRider I suspect Dominic may have an easier task following Boris than a more detailed person like Teresa May. Boris set the tone of Government with broad confident policies and then seemed to let people get on with them. If that was true we should see things continue as normal with Raab scanning the detail allowing Boris to remain the figurehead in control. Assuming this is the case we should see little change but if I’m wrong everything may come tumbling down.

          • Hi Mark B,

            What you say is true prior to the crisis, but recent reports suggest that Boris Johnson has stepped up and taken responsibility for the final key decisions. So I think there has been a change in style when the chips are down. The phrase being used is ‘first amongst equals’.

            The upside is that all key immediate decisions are reported as being made, so hopefully the PM will be fully recovered before the next wave of decisions will need to be made, as much for his sake and his family’s as for the country’s. Not because I think Dominic Raab is incapable, rather because Boris Johnson represents stable leadership at a moment when the country needs it most.

            The next big decision is the 3 week review point. Given the data I think that is going to be pretty straight forward, so perhaps a chance for Dominic Raab to get used to the big chair.

            Thoughts to all in harms way at this time and a big thank you to all key workers from cleaners to consultants, from service personnel to shop workers. Stay safe.

          • Hi ChariotRider,

            I agree Boris has stepped up and made the key decisions. I got the impression that his cabinet were full of like-minded people and I have not seen any sign of dissent. Perhaps everyone is onboard – we will see.

            Dominic looked a little daunted by the big chair but possibly that will fade – he will not have time to dwell on it.

            It is in my humble opinion too soon to predict the PM return to good health. The next 3-4 days are key but it looks like a better than even chance for him.

            I echo your sentiments – Keep safe everyone.

          • I agree the next 3-4 days are key. I was very relieved to hear Boris was ‘stable’ this morning when I watched the news, for him and his family, but for the country as well.

            Best wishes one and all.

            CR

  9. Glad to see the builder’s issues seem to have been overcome and the program is delivering badly needed boats to the RN. I’m also glad the George VI has finally had a (capital) fleet unit named in his honor.

    Cheers and stay healthy all

  10. Could the first 3 boats be brought up to the same standard/configuration as the last 4? Will that happen at the first major refit. With a class so small, it takes half the boats being built to achieve the “optimum”

  12. Harry come on man this disdain towards house insurance and critical illness insurances isn’t the way to go you’ll end up regretting it when your boiler packs up it’s already 16 yrs old .look how your trying to drive your Escort around town without insurance ended up ? A big fine and points your mrs was none to pleased with you for that one. No no Defence is just like those policies you shun always a waste of money until you need it .

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