fallout begins for 'Mother of All Sea Trials'

Concerning sea trials since 2008, has there ever been a longer sea trial for a non-Russian submarine? So far, YES*, but even that record may soon be broken. Astute commenced her sea trials almost one year ago.

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A spokesman at Faslane had said back in August: "The point of sea trials is to find these faults. It's all going to schedule." (By now, the spokesman from Faslane has hopefully changed his mind)

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UPDATE 24 October 2010 - Stricken UK sub charts possibly obsolete

A nuclear-powered submarine may have run aground on a shingle bank because the charts it was using were out of date, sources say. ... [However,] The vessel is understood to have strayed several hundred yards outside the safe sea lane marked on Admiralty charts.... A Royal Navy source told the Mail on Sunday: "One of the things that is being looked at is if the charts were up to date with the recent seabed changes in the area."

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October 23, 2010 - HMS Astute commander may face court martial

A defence source said it was likely Cdr Coles, as the officer in ultimate charge of the advanced nuclear-powered submarine, would face a court martial. ... A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "It is inappropriate to comment on possible disciplinary action until a full and thorough investigation has taken place and reported." Either way, things are unlikely to end poorly for Cdr Coles by current British standards, however.

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22 October 2010 - The rescue tug used to free the grounded nuclear submarine HMS Astute is to be scrapped as part of the Government’s spending cuts plan. The Anglian Prince, based in the northern isles, is one of four emergency towing vessels (ETVs) that are to be taken out of service from September 2011, saving the Government £32.5m a year.

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3 September 2010 - Investigation after crane drops heavy load on nuclear sub

the Royal Navy’s latest reactor-driven submarine, was hit by a ramp slipping from a crane during loading. An MoD spokesman said: “During the loading of HMS Astute, a small ramp slipped from a crane onto the submarine and into the water. An investigation has been launched and it is too early to comment on the cause of the incident or whether there has been any damage to the submarine casing.”

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11 Aug 2010 - JINXED Royal Navy submarine had to return to port during sea trials - after its anchor broke down Last night, a Navy source said: "For a sub that is so hi-tech, it's the basic things that seem to go wrong. This is very embarrassing for the Navy and for the sub's contractors, BAE defence systems." A spokesman at Faslane said: "The point of sea trials is to find these faults. It's all going to schedule."

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18 February 2010 - Astute completed her first dive.

16 February 2010 - Astute left Faslane for continued sea trials

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15 Nov 2009 - Astute departed Barrow for sea trial commencement.

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Relative luxury side notes...

Astute's sanitary accomodations include 5 showers, 5 toilets, 2 urinals and 8 hand basins for a crew of 98 (the CO has his own hand basin).

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Astute's berthing provides individual bunks for entire crew, as well as 11 overflow bunks for passengers/sea riders.

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Astute can compact and store all food waste and garbage arising from an extended patrol.

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Note* - KD Tunku Abdul Rahman underwent two years of trials in France prior to delivery to the Royal Malayasian Navy in February 2010; it completed tropical water trials in June, but remained at the naval base in need of maintenance.

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Submarines are always silent and strange.