[A-List] UK military: nuclear sub collision

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Trainee US officer was on duty when sub hit rocks
IAN BRUCE
The Herald, 21 November 2002

A TRAINEE American naval officer was on command duty in the control room of
HMS Trafalgar, the Royal Navy nuclear submarine, which sustained tens of
millions of pounds-worth of damage when it collided with submerged rocks off
Skye two weeks ago.

The £300m nuclear-powered hunter killer fleet submarine, one of only three
British boats equipped to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, will be out of
action for between six and eight months, effectively ruling out any
involvement in a military campaign against Iraq.

Captain Alistair Halliday, a spokesman for the RN's fleet corporate
communications section, confirmed yesterday that a US exchange officer was
"closed up" in Trafalgar's control room "performing a task as one of four
students on the Perisher submarine commander's course" when the boat hit
Fladda Chuain, a well-charted chain of rocks three miles north-west of Skye.

Trafalgar suffered extensive damage to its forward ballast tanks, sonar and
hydrophones. The boat was travelling at 18 knots - about half of its top
speed - 160 ft beneath the surface when it ran on to the rocks.

Captain Halliday said yesterday: "The incident is now the subject of a naval
board of inquiry and details concerning the individuals involved are sub
judice. I can confirm that a US trainee was one of four trainees taking part
in the course and all were closed up in the control room at the time. Each
was performing an essential task as part of their assessment.

"The safety of the submarine and its crew remains the ultimate
responsibility of the senior British officer on board, no matter what
actions are taken by others which may or may not have contributed to the
accident."

The stricken submarine returned to Faslane naval base for initial damage
assessment and yesterday returned to her home base at Devonport to begin
major repairs.

The boat's pressure hull and nuclear reactor compartment were undamaged.