Two Uncommissioned British Subs Have Encountered Mission Critical Problems Since Sunday

Two British submarines, neither commissioned, encountered bad things this week. Oddly, the one (Orpheus) that experienced death of a crew member went on with its mission, because someone had the foresight to put to sea with a mortuary slab. The other (Astute) had to return to port due to a malfunction of its anchor chain, as Juan Caruso has illustrated below.
.

August 11, 2010 - The Sun Online A JINXED £1billion Royal Navy submarine had to return to port during sea trials - after its anchor broke down.

.

Have you ever heard of a submarine anchor breakdown? In my submarine travels anchors were seldom necessary, much less mission critical. The yet to be commissioned HMS Astute (S119) was allegedly on sea trials when her anchor failed to drop.

A technical fault prevented the chain, which attaches the anchor to the sub, from uncoiling. ... A team of engineers is now investigating.

Juan Caruso finds this news story very spearfishy. In fact, the story seems only to have been reported by The SUN, as of this writing. As we all know, anchors on British nuclear submarines are highly technical devices that tend to be more complex perhaps than related weapons systems. Hmmm!

.

In other odd submarine news, the Orpheus, also an uncommissioned British sub went to sea with a mortuary slab, according to this report:

And with one of her crew already dead, I’m impressed at whoever had the foresight to kit out the submarine with a mortuary slab. Talk about preparing for the worst-case scenario. - Jane Simon, 10/08/2010, The Deep, BBC1, 9pm, The Sunday Mirror.

Submarines are always silent and strange.