SCOTLAND became an even greater nuclear target at the weekend when the country received a visit from a ballistic missile submarine with hardly anybody noticing.
The USS Tennessee, carrying Trident nuclear missiles, docked at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde at Faslane on Friday for what American military sources said was a “routine” visit.
The Ohio-class submarine, equivalent to Britain’s Trident-carrying Vanguard submarine, tied up at the £130 million Valiant Jetty which was assembled in Greenock and which has berths for six nuclear submarines.
The 580ft, 18,000 ton submarine has a crew of 155 officers and men and is believed to carry 24 Trident D-5 nuclear missiles, each with multiple warheads.
The Tennessee’s visit was planned to show America’s commitment to its allies, according to the United States Strategic Command – or STRATCOM, as it is known.
It was no secret visit, as STRATCOM put the Tennessee’s destination on its website.
In a statement, STRATCOM said: “The US routinely and visibly demonstrates commitment to allies through forward presence and operations of strategic forces. This visit … highlights the close relationship shared by the United States and United Kingdom to support global security objectives with highly trained, interoperable strategic forces.”
The visit of the USS Tennessee follows the port visit at Faslane of the ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) USS Wyoming in September last year.
According to STRATCOM: “To deter a broad range of threats, the US requires a robust Triad of strategic forces and forward deployed non-strategic nuclear forces. SSBNs, which patrol continuously, provide a critical, stabilizing and highly-effective element of the US nuclear deterrence force.
“The US and UK have a long-standing agreement of cooperation in the development and deployment of strategic weapons and supporting systems.
“UK SSBNs deploy the same Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) as US SSBNs, and the Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic at Kings Bay, Georgia, frequently provides missile logistics support to U.K. SSBNs.”
Admiral Cecil D Haney, US Strategic Command commander, said: “The Navy’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines support our nation’s ability to maintain a strong, credible strategic force and enhance and provide for the security and stability of our regional allies.
“This visit highlights our special relationship with the UK, and complements the many exercises, training, operations, and other military cooperation activities conducted between our two nations. Further, it provides a well-deserved respite for the USS Tennessee crew, who work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, deterring strategic threats to our collective security.”
According the US-based Stars and Stripes publication, the latest deployment “comes at a time when US military officials have expressed concern about a greater presence of Russian submarines operating around European waters.”
They added: “In particular, an area of focus for US European Command has been Russia’s increased underwater activity around the so-called Giuk gap, an area around Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom, where Russian submarines have been a more common presence. EUCOM has sought more naval assets to counter Russian activities.”
Most of Scotland’s MSPs and MPs, oppose nuclear weapons, particularly Trident and its renewal. Most opinion polls show that Scots are opposed to any nuclear weapons being sited in Scotland.
Commenting on the USS Tennessee’s arrival, an SNP spokesman pointed to the fact that the American submarine was basing itself, however temporarily, at a naval base hosting Trident which is very close to Glasgow.
The spokesman said: “Fifty eight of Scotland’s 59 MPs voted against the renewal of this obscene weapon of mass destruction – but Westminster is determined to continue basing these dangerous weapons 25 miles from Scotland’s largest city.
“At a cost of hundreds of billions of pounds – and rising – it is an absolute disgrace.’’
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