£1.1bn submarine limps into port after collision

The HMS Ambush, an Astute-class submarine, sustained external damage in the collision, the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Sources said no one was injured in the incident yesterday afternoon and there was no damage to the submarines nuclear core.

A nuclear-powered submarine has collided with a ship off the coast of Gibraltar, with the accident coming despite the Royal Navy saying it has “world leading sensors”.

MADRID (AP) – Spain is seeking an urgent explanation from British authorities after a Royal Navy submarine was forced into port in Gibraltar following a collision with a merchant vessel.

“HMS Ambush is therefore as welcome today on the Rock as ever”, he said in a statement.

No crew were injured in the incident, although the submarine did suffer some “external damage”. The reactor may have automatically shut down, as a result of the shock, but these submarines carry an over-ride system which can over-ride the shutdown.

Photographs of HMS Ambush arriving in Gibraltar appear to show damage to the front section of its conning tower.

At the time of the incident, the sub was submerged and conducting a training exercise.

He says Gibraltar is an important and strategic military base for the United Kingdom, and the regular visit of nuclear submarines is part of that strategic value.

The submarine is powered by Rolls-Royce nuclear technology and officially joined the Royal Navy’s fleet in 2012 and when it was given its title at a ceremony at HM Naval Base, Clyde, in Scotland, dignitaries attended from Derby.

It has to be a matter of concern that so advanced a submarine, the second built of the new Astute class of hunter-killer submarines and commissioned in March 2013, was apparently unable to “see” another vessel in close proximity.

The former Royal Navy icebreaker, HMS Endurance has now left Portsmouth for the last time.

The US Navy has launched and speed-tested the latest weapon in its arsenal against enemy submarines.