The Alarming Story of How French and British Nuclear Submarines Collided

[EC]

Late at night on Feb. 3, 2009 the crew of the French nuclear submarine Triomphant, experienced something of a shock. The 138-meter-long submarine, the lead boat of four serving today as a key part of France’s nuclear strike force, was returning to port submerged under the heavy seas of the East Atlantic when something impacted violently upon her bow and sail.

On Feb. 6 the French Ministry of Defense reported that the submarine had suffered a collision with an “an immersed object (probably a container).” The same day the Triomphant returned to her base in Ile Longue escorted by a frigate.

Curiously, HMS Vanguard, a British Royal Navy nuclear submarine also experienced a collision that evening. The first of her class, Vanguard measures 150 meters long and displaces 16,900 tons when submerged.

At some point, the two navies compared notes. On Feb. 16 they announced the two submarines “briefly came into contact at a very low speed while submerged.” Fortunately, no crew members were harmed in the accident, though repairs were estimated to cost a minimum of 50 million pounds.

When the Vanguard returned to her base in Faslane, Scotland, she was visibly badly mangled around her missile compartment and starboard side.

More: https://warisboring.com/the-alarming-story-of-how-french-and-british-nuclear-submarines-collided/

[Smokin Joe]

Hmmmm. Safety versus security. Boomers live by being silent and secret. To potentially double the number of people who would know a patrol area is to potentially double the number who might leak it. It's a big ocean.

[EC]

Always were taught that the difficulty of keeping a secret is a geometric progression.  ^-^

It is a big ocean - but there are lanes even there, and they can get crowded.

[Smokin Joe]

Always were taught that the difficulty of keeping a secret is a geometric progression.  ^-^

It is a big ocean - but there are lanes even there, and they can get crowded.

I taught all the grandkids how many people it takes to keep a secret. (One, any more than that, it isn't a secret any more.)

Sure, there are favorable currents (Gibraltar is a notorious example) and better layers for sound suppression, and those will attract subs, especially if they are trying to be sneaky, which for a boomer is a given. So I'd expect some traffic, st least closer to port. Operating depth and obstacle avoidance (reefs, shoals, and the like) are considerations, too, especially out of the deep ocean areas.