The first chapter in the career of Royal Navy hunter-killer submarine HMS Astute is over. The second awaits to be written as the first of the A-boats undergoes a mid-life revamp.
After 15 years’ continuous service around the globe – the longest first commission in the history of the Silent Service – Astute has arrived in Devonport, where she’ll be handed over to the team at Babcock for her multi-million-pound Mid Life Re-Validation Period (MLRP).
As the first of her class, Astute not surprisingly has a string of firsts to her name: first A-boat to visit Australia (supporting HMS Queen Elizabeth’s carrier group deployment and the AUKUS partnership with Washington and Canberra); first A-boat through the Suez Canal; first A-boat to visit the USA (for extensive weapons/sonar trials).
Less well known is the role the nuclear-powered submarine and her sisters plays in safeguarding home waters – operations out of sight and rarely publicized.
The last act of the first commission was the rare opportunity to give those associated with the boat the chance to see what she can do.
Crew took friends, families and VIP guests to sea, offering a snippet of life on a submarine to them, heading out of Plymouth and diving beneath the waves for a few hours.
The chefs in Astute’s galley pulled out all the stops to offer fine dining to guests: the cheesy wham bam (cheese on toast plus grilled ham and fried egg).
“This snapshot was a small token from the ship’s company to celebrate and thank friends and families for the support and sacrifices made while HMS Astute had been away and on operations and show them some of the differences that life on a nuclear submarine holds,” said Commander Christopher Bate, the boat’s Commanding Officer.
Astute – and the entire A-boat class (five in service, No.6 HMS Agamemnon due to commission this autumn and HMS Achilles in the later stages of construction in Barrow) – are based on the Clyde.
Underlining the national endeavor supporting the entire submarine program, however, major maintenance and upgrade work is carried out at the state-of-the-art facilities in Devonport, where refits of the Vanguard class of strategic deterrent boats are also carried out.
