SCOTLAND is now home to the “world’s most advanced” nuclear submarine.
The 7,400-tonne HMS Artful officially joined the Royal Navy fleet yesterday, commissioned in a ceremony at Faslane naval base on the Clyde attend by the submarine’s 150 crew, their families and senior Navy officials.
Built at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, it moved to HM Naval Base Clyde in 2015 to undergo sea trials off the west coast of Scotland.
It is the third Astute-class attack submarine to join the fleet following HMS Astute and HMS Ambush, said to be the most powerful ever operated by the force. All seven of the Navy’s Astute-class vessels will eventually be based on the Clyde.
The next two submarines in the class, Audacious and Anson, are currently being built in Barrow, with Agamemnon and the as yet unnamed seventh sub to follow.
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