After 15 years’ continuous service around the globe – the longest first commission in the history of the Silent Service – HMS Astute has arrived in Devonport, where she’ll be handed over to Babcock for a multi-million-pound Mid Life Re-Validation Period (MLRP).
Launched in 2007, during her service so far, Astute visited Australia, transited the Suez Canal and visited the USA for extensive weapons and sonar trials.
Crew took friends, families and VIP guests to sea, offering a snippet of life on a submarine to them, heading out of Plymouth and diving for a few hours.
“This snapshot was a small token from the ship’s company to celebrate and thank friends and families for the support and sacrifices made while HMS Astute had been away and on operations and show them some of the differences that life on a nuclear submarine holds,” Commander Christopher Bate, the boat’s commanding officer, said.
Five of the seven boats designed in the class are in service. The Royal Navy says HMS Agamemnon, alongside in Barrow at the moment, is due to commission this autumn. The RN says the final Astute, HMS Achilles, is ‘in the later stages of construction in Barrow.’
Construction of the class began in 2001.
It is unclear how long the work in Devonport will take to complete and leaves four Astute class boats in service.
