A new British nuclear-powered submarine ran aground off the coast of north-west Scotland on Friday during an exchange of crew members. Military officials played down the significance of the embarrassing accident involving the navy's biggest and newest submarine.
"This is not a nuclear incident," a Ministry of Defence spokesman said. "There are no injuries to personnel and the submarine is watertight." A navy spokesman described the accident as a "relatively minor incident". The MoD identified the boat as an Astute-class submarine, adding that it was not armed with nuclear warheads. The submarine was snagged on rocks off the Isle of Skye during a routine boat transfer, the navy spokesman said.
"At some point she touched the rudder on the bottom and they weren't able to get her off immediately," a spokesman said. He said tug boats were in place and would try to pull the sub free later on Friday as the tide rose. "There are no nuclear issues, no environmental impact, no injuries to people - potential damage to the rudder, that's about it," the spokesman said.
The HMS Astute is the first of a new class of nuclear-powered submarines. It was commissioned into the navy in August and was undergoing sea trials before becoming operational. The design, development and manufacture of the first three Astute submarines cost 3.9 billion pounds ($6.1 billion). According to the Royal Navy's website it is the largest and most advanced sub the navy operates and will progressively replace the "Swiftsure" and "Trafalgar" classes. The Maritime and Coastguard said it was alerted to the incident at about 0720 GMT and had sent an emergency tug boat to assist.