NUKE SUB BREAK-IN

Sky News ^ | 17:06 UK, Saturday November 16, 2002 | Sky News

[colette_g]

NUKE SUB BREAK-IN

Two people were questioned by police after a boarding a nuclear submarine inside a top-security naval base.

An anti-nuclear campaign group claimed two of its members even managed to ring the sub's bell.

The incident sparked fears over security at the base.

The intruders were found inside the Devonport Naval Base, Plymouth, where HMS Vanguard is undergoing a re-fit.

They were arrested by Ministry of Defence police.

A Royal Navy spokeswoman today said the pair had been found on the submarine.

"They got on to the outer casing of the submarine and broke a fire alarm box. They didn't actually ring the ship's bell," she said.

The campaign group Trident Ploughshares is currently holding a four-day "peace camp" in Plymouth.

A statement from the group today said its activists had entered the naval base, showing MoD security to be "woefully inadequate".

Last Updated: 17:06 UK, Saturday November 16, 2002

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this.

It is time that the Royal Navy put armed guards with shoot to kill orders when any intruder gets on their Navy bases illegally!

The Royal Marines are quite capable of doing this job if given the opportunity to do it.

Political Correctness which enables these groups can result in the deaths of innocents.

[colette_g]

Here's the BBC interpretation of the story :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2483963.stm

Intruders break into nuclear base

Two intruders who broke into a naval base where a nuclear submarine is based are being held for questioning by police.
The pair were found inside Devonport Naval Base, Plymouth, at about 11.30GMT on Friday.

They were caught at 9 Dock, where the Trident submarine HMS Vanguard is currently undergoing a re-fit.

In a statement anti-nuclear campaigners claimed the couple had got onto the submarine and rung its bell.

Intruders got onto the casing of the submarine

A perimeter fence and a fire alarm were reported to have suffered minor damage during the break-in.

The campaign group Trident Ploughshares is currently holding a four-day "peace camp" in Plymouth.

A statement released by the group on Saturday said its activists had entered the naval base, showing MoD security to be "woefully inadequate."

A Royal Navy spokeswoman said the pair had been found on the submarine.

"They got on to the outer casing of the submarine and broke a fire alarm box. They didn't actually ring the ship's bell," she said. The Ministry of Defence Police, Devonport Management Ltd (DML), which runs the dockyard, and the civil police are investigating the incident.

In a statement the MoD said wider safety issues were not compromised by the break-in.

The intruders are being questioned by MoD police at Plymouth's Charles Cross police station.

HMS Vanguard, which arrived at Devonport in February this year, is one of seven nuclear-powered submarines based there.

[Grampa Dave]

Good thing you posted this info before we got the usual deport all of them from this country postings.

Of course a first grader with average reading skills would have know that it happened in the UK to a UK sub undergoing an overhaul if they read the full article.

[coloradan]

The terrorists managed to crash the Pentagon and the WTC towers, but truth be told they didn't manage to ring the bell either.

[colette_g]

You put it better than I ever could . . .

[colette_g]

It looks like it's not the first time either - look at

Protester paints hull of nuclear sub

[Redcloak]

Have the Brits been hiring our airport screeners to guard their subs?

[Grampa Dave]

Anyone caugh swimming illegally near a nuclear sub should be rewarded with a few hand grenades lobbed into the water where they are swimming (of course the pins on the grenades were pulled before lobbing them!)

[wotan]

They should make examples out of them and Shoot them on Site without a trial as Saboteurs.

Why would you want to shoot them? These people have actually performed a service by revealing flaws in the base's security without exploiting those flaws.

[Kerberos]

"I loved the "They didn't actually ring the ship's bell" reference - like that makes it OK! "

Yeah if they had actually rang the ships bell, that would be really bad.

[sourcery]

two of its members even managed to ring the sub's bell.

Protesters: Um, trick or treat?

Uncle Sam: Sure, how about a nice, long, all-expenses-paid stay at Club Fed?

[Consort]

HMS Vanguard (S 28)

[Museum Twenty]

No, no, I think folks are getting it wrong:

It is Checkov and Uhura!

Somehow, they found the nucular wessels!

[RedBloodedAmerican]

It is?

[Timesink]

It is?

Yup, British sister outfit. They occasionally use each others' taped reports and correspondents. There's also an Australian Sky News.

[Polybius]

"I loved the "They didn't actually ring the ship's bell" reference - like that makes it OK! "

Yeah if they had actually rang the ships bell, that would be really bad.

Well, all joking aside, it would be really bad as the ship's bell on a submarine is located inside the submarine.

These protestors only managed to set foot on the sub's outer hull.