One of the Vanguard-class nuclear submarines belonging to the British Navy was close to disaster – reports the Bulgarian Military website. Due to a sensor failure, the unit began to sink to a dangerous depth. We remind you of the specifications of Vanguard ships and explain what makes them unique.
Vanguard-class submarines are part of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. The program assumes that units have been conducting continuous reconnaissance in areas unknown to the public since 1969. The British Navy regularly rotates all available ships, sending different units on missions. The only certain thing is that at least one team is constantly working at an undisclosed location offshore.
One of the four ships was a hair’s breadth away from disaster on Monday, November 20 – we read on the Bulgarian Military website. However, for security reasons, the source does not provide specific information about the incident. Therefore, it is not known exactly which unit was close to sinking, or where and at what depth the incident occurred.
However, it is known that the ship with a crew of 140 people submerged to a dangerous depth due to the failure of the immersion sensors. “The ship almost entered the danger zoneand the disaster was averted thanks to the engineers at the stern who noticed that the dive was out of control,” we read.
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Although the ship was in fact at a depth at which it was capable of operating, descending every additional meter below the water level, there was a risk of sinking. However, a British Navy spokesman emphasizes that submarines are still deployed around the world and the incident with the Vanguard-class vessel will be investigated.
-Vanguard-class ships
The main characteristic of ships of this class in British service is the ability to carry 16 UGM-133 Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles with an operational range of up to 11,000 km. Additional armament includes four torpedo tubes with Spearfish missiles.
It should be emphasized that they are located on Vanguard-class ships government letters with instructions on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. Letters of last resort are four lists placed on each of the four ships of the army.
In addition, Vanguard units have a submerged displacement of almost 16,000 t and are almost 150 m long. For comparison, the popular Boeing 737-800 narrow-body aircraft are “only” 40 m long. The ships in question are powered by a nuclear reactor PWR type (water-cooled), which accelerates the machine to a speed of almost 50 km/h when submerged.
Norbert Garbarek, journalist of Wirtualna Polska
