Wayward sub hit seabed
HMS Triumph, one of seven Trafalgar- class boats based in the Westcountry, was taking part in a Submarine Command Course when the accident happened on November 19, 2000.
Ten days later, HMS Victorious – one of four submarines that carries Britain's nuclear weapons deterrent – also grounded after leaving HM Naval Base Clyde.
The official report into the Triumph accident blamed inexperience among officers on watch, while nearly a third of the crew had been drafted in from other T-boats.
“In the board's opinion, considerable risk was taken in diluting the ship's company in order to manage leave, appointing, drafting and morale in Triumph,” the report said.
“This was clearly a questionable step, particularly in view of the demanding operations inherent in Submarine Command Course running.”
At the time, the MoD said the submarine had suffered “superficial damage”, which cost just £6,000 to repair. It said the boat had “made glancing contact with soft sand and shells on a shelving seabed when under way submerged”.
After the impact off the west coast of Scotland, it surfaced immediately. Checks proved it was further away from where officers thought.
“The grounding occurred because the submarine's true position was some 2.6 nautical miles [or three statute miles] further east than that plotted and when evidence that the navigational position was in error was obtained, it was not acted upon,” the board concluded.
Two lieutenant commanders were reprimanded at court martial in December 2001.
The MoD also released files on a crash involving HMS Victorious on November 29, 2000. It grounded on Skelmorlie Bank in the Clyde estuary.
“The primary cause of the grounding was a failure of standard navigational practise and a lack of awareness among all members of the navigation team of the increased danger to safe navigation as soon as the submarine had deviated from its pre-briefed navigational plan,” the report concluded.
In May, the MoD finally admitted that Devonport-based HMS Tireless did hit an iceberg during exercises in the Arctic in May 2003. At the time, it refused to comment on the precise nature of the accident, merely stating that the vessel had a “chance contact with a free-floating object whilst she was operating submerged”.
A Board of Inquiry report, again released under the Freedom of Information Act, confirmed the boat had hit an iceberg while 63m below the surface. No-one was blamed.
HMS Triumph entering Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth. The Trafalgar-class sub hit the seabed off Scotland
