MoD tight-lipped on submarine spotted by CalMac passengers on Ullapool route in Loch Broom
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THE Navy has launched a probe after a large nuclear submarine - that carries Britain's nuclear deterrent - was spotted on the surface near a ferry as it crossed The Minch in Scotland.
The MoD is remaining tight-lipped over the incident when startled passengers who saw the sub off the stern of the MV Loch Seaforth.
The incident on Sunday happened off the entrance to Loch Broom in Wester Ross as the CalMac ferry plied its route from Ullapool to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides.
Several passengers took photographs.
One said: "My husband and I were looking out the back for dolphins and whales when we saw something totally unexpected – a big black submarine. It was suddenly there on the surface. I don't know if it just 'popped up', but it stayed on the surface for quite a while until we could no longer see it. It was a bit of a surprise."
Speculation is that the submarine may have been a Vanguard-class vessel that carries Britain's nuclear deterrent. All four boats – Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance – are based at HM Naval Base Clyde.
Each submarine is armed with up to 16 UGM-133 Trident II missiles. The class is scheduled to be replaced starting in the early 2030s with the Dreadnought-class submarine.
For 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Royal Navy Vanguard-class submarines patrol the world’s oceans " silent, undetected and ready to strike at any time. Their very presence sends a powerful message to those who would do us harm," says the Navy.
The Navy was remaining tight-lipped over the ferry incident.
A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “In the interests of security, we do not routinely comment on submarine operations. However, we will investigate this further to establish the full circumstances.”
CalMac said it was not a matter for it to comment on.
The submarine may have been on a training exercise.
The British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC) is located in the Inner Sound between the island of Raasay and the Applecross peninsula.
It trials submarine weapons and sonar systems. It is vital to maintaining the readiness of Britain's fleet of nuclear submarines.
The range is used for noise trials of surface ships and submarines and for testing a variety of weapons, including torpedoes, and sensors.
BUTEC is operated by defence contractor QinetiQ on behalf of the MoD and Royal Navy.
In 2010 the Royal Navy's then newest and largest attack submarine HMS Astute embarrassingly run aground off Skye.
Described as the stealthiest ever built in the UK, the £1bn boat was being put through sea trials and was not armed.
Eye-witness Ross McKerlich said the submarine was about a mile from his home and appeared slightly tilted.
He said then:"When I woke up this morning and looked out my bedroom window I could see the submarine."
Submarine HMS Trafalgar sustained millions of pounds worth of damage when it ran aground off Skye in 2002.
Two senior commanders were reprimanded after admitting that their negligence caused the incident.
The sea around Skye and the island of Raasay is used as a training ground for the Royal Navy.
Sunday's submarine sighting came just days before deep diving whales were unusually spotted close to shore around Skye and the Outer Hebrides.
On Skye a Northern bottlenose whale died on Wednesday and three others were seen off Loch Shell on neighbouring Lewis.
Deep diving whales were washed ashore in Ireland last year, raising fears of Russian submarine activity.
Scotland previously saw a major mass stranding of dead deep diving cetaceans originating from an area pinpointed off Ireland, which has been blamed on the search for Russian submarines.
Among the species were Cuvier's beaked whales and sperm whales.
But an apparently well-informed Twitter post from KendalHZ60 pointed to recent Russian sonar developments.
"The sonar uses a frequency range, and a pattern that draws the large whales in - it's a form of a distress call for a hungry calf. The sonar/whale calls are a mimic from different pods collected over the years. The whales, specially their calls and activities, are used to hide the Russian submarine from detection," they wrote.
"The second set of sonar from the Russian sub causes massive haemorrhage in the whales, causing a dispersal AND masks the sounds of torpedo doors opening, the water jet, the kick-start of the thermal-high compression engine, etc
"The Russians are trying to reduce the time that a sonar operator needs to identify the sounds, identify the type of torpedo, make a call to warn the crew, and any self-protection action needed to survive a torpedo attack. The Russians are A-holes."
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust has said that it "shares the concerns" of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group over the impact that military sonar has on whales, dolphins and porpoises "in our seas".
In an chilling echo of The Hunt for Red October, evidence later emerged that the navy were probably hunting a Russian submarine and using sonar that can effectively cause the bends in deep diving whales which led to an "unprecedented number" of whale strandings on Scotland’s west coast in 2018.
They were mainly Cuvier's beaked whales and northern bottlenose whales, which normally inhabit deep underwater canyons.
More of the cetaceans also turned up on the Irish, Icelandic and Faroese coasts.
Using tidal current and wind charts and other data investigators managed to pinpoint the place they originated from - an area to the west of Ireland called the Porcupine Bank.
The UK Ministry of Defence was asked for answers by investigators from the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) over the previous mass strandings around Scotland - and the navy admitted they had been operating in the area where the cetaceans were.
Experts have warned that Atlantic waters could be the "new battle space of the future" because it's a global internet hub and a base for many worldwide tech firms.
Russia’s interest in the undersea cables that traverse the Atlantic Ocean first emerged in 2015, when the US military saw Russian submarines and naval vessels operating in areas where the cables are laid.
