Free Republic

The Royal Navy's entire available fleet of hunter-killer submarines is stuck in port unable to sail – leaving Britain at risk from Vladimir Putin's Russia. In a fresh humiliation for Britain's Armed Forces, all five of its Astute class submarines are currently laid up awaiting maintenance and other repair work. Military experts have also warned that the Navy's lack of available nuclear-powered attack submarines – which carry up to 38 Spearfish torpedoes and a battery of Tomahawk missiles – leaves the UK's sub-sea internet and power cables dangerously vulnerable to sabotage by the Kremlin. The subs also play a critical...

Life in a ‘rather cramped’ A Class nuclear submarine MARTIN WILLIAMS Share 9 Apr 2011 IT’S a cramped and monotonous lifestyle on HMS Astute, but they are conditions all submariners are trained to deal with. That’s the view of those who have served on claustrophobic Navy submarines and who know what it is like to cope with the tight confines, the weeks away at sea away from their loved ones and the boredom. The nuclear submarine yesterday became the centre of a major police investigation after one person died and another was said to be fighting for their life after...