Pretty Good Cover Up or an In-port Fire of No Consequence

Background

While US ballistic missile subs are designated SSBNs, the official French designation is SNLE-NG (Sous-Marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins de Nouvelle Génération).

Since 1972, ’Île Longue (Long Island) located in the Atlantic harbor at Brest, has been the homeport of France's 4 ballistic missile subs. ’Île Longue provides maintenance between deterrent patrols as well as depots for storage of nuclear warheads and reactor fuel. Naturally the’Île Longue base is home to two or more highly-classified nuclear installations.

The French ballistic missile submarine Triomphant (S616) entered active service in March of 1997.  On a night in early February of 2009, Triomphant collided with the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vanguard.    Le Triomphant, the oldest of its class, reportedly proceeded to Brest submerged with extensive damages to her sonar dome.   

This will probably not be news to members of various wardrooms, sub groups, etc. and others with access to classified intel.
 

Belated News that dies or Sketchy Leak with Legs?

Published November 21, 2015  |   By Editor -
(The incident dates back to August 2015):

Île Longue. Un incendie sur le Triomphant en travaux  (untranslated)
Reportedly, a fire broke out in the boiler of nuclear submarine Le Triomphant which was docked in its base Ile Longue (Finistère). Since August 4, the crew has resumed onboard operations with normal work restored.  

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M.E. Note:  Readers need to be aware of a language peculiarity we found.  Apparently, the term "boiler" can be confused in translation with "nuclear reactor vessel". Decide for yourselves:

" ...fuel elements of her nuclear boiler...".    

"Nuclear boiler" [reactor fire ? ]. See what we mean?  It is very easy to understand why a related incident in a strategic nuclear sub would have been highly classified by national secrecy and placed beneath the reach of the French press.  

What is very difficult to understand is the misplaced patriotism or political leanings of those responsible for leaking such an item in the midst of France's internal terrorism scare.  

To those enemies of France and the free world Molten Eagle says,

Vive la France !  (translation: Long live France!)

Submarines are always silent and strange.

 

The Editor of Jane's Fighting Ships Weighs In

Yesterday M.E. had posited the web's only Container Sub theory to explain the collision of HMS Vanguard (S28) and SNLE Le Triomphant (S 616) earlier this month.

In naval submarine matters a cardinal rule is summarized by Juan Caruso's reminder:

Submarines are always silent and strange.

The reminder has accompanied most of our postings about submarine incidents, operations, and crews for most of the past 4 years. Still, people not directly exposed to the lengths to which the intelligence community will go to keep the business of submarines secret forget that the transparency associated with surface operations and crew cannot be reliably extrapolated to or interpolated within submarines.

Stealth: G = 6.673 x 10-11 N m2/kg2

Do not take M.E.'s word for this. As further evidence of the mystery at hand, consider the opinion of a retired British Royal Navy Commodore and editor of the $880 annual reference Jane's Fighting Ships), Stephen Saunders (source):

"This really shouldn't have happened at all. It's a very serious incident and I find it quite extraordinary."

If Commodore Saunders's spoken words are not convincing enough for you, consider what one of the most colorful submarine drivers had to say. In the documentary gem "Submarines: Sharks of Steel", the late VADM Robert 'Yogi' Kaufman conveys to a class of USNA midshipmen:

"I, for one, first would not talk about any encounters I have had that are classified, and [two] I would like to shoot anybody who would."

VADM Kaufman had once been the XO of the second nuclear submarine to which Vigilis was assigned.

Submarine technology is not to be trivialized. While we understand the circumstances under which Le Triomphant's collision was initially attributed to a container (submerged?), the effort to allay suspicions was nevertheless insulting to the HMS Vanguard. Think of how we might feel if space shuttles such as Challenger had been referred to as containers.

Not only are many of the most technologically advanced (and secretive) systems ever conceived employed on military subs, their names, capabilities and applications are simply not discussed openly, even among all the crew. While explanations may abound, cover stories appear as needed. So, would you really expect a better explanation of the damage to two submarines?

France may rejoin NATO in the near term, but the UK and France may also exit the SSBN game in a few years, helped in part by criticisms of their mutually arranged collision (i.e. the container theory). A still better theory of why the collision occurred involves the U.S. and is less damaging to the reputations of France and the UK. If a bit of supportive evidence materializes, you will read about the latter at Molten Eagle.

Submarines are always silent and strange.