HMS Astute (S119)

HMS Astute returning to HMNB Clyde, 2012
History
UK
Name:	HMS Astute
Ordered:	March 1997
Builder:	BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down:	31 January 2001
Launched:	8 June 2007
Commissioned:	27 August 2010
In service:	May 2014
Homeport:	HM Naval Base Clyde
Identification:	Pennant number: S119
Status:	Operational
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Astute-class fleet submarine
Displacement:	Surfaced: 7,000 to 7,400 t (7,300 long tons; 8,200 short tons) Submerged: 7,400 to 7,800 t (7,700 long tons; 8,600 short tons)
Length:	97 m (318 ft 3 in)
Beam:	11.3 m (37 ft 1 in)
Draught:	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Propulsion:	Rolls-Royce PWR 2 reactor, MTU 600 kilowatt diesel generators
Speed:	30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph), submerged
Range:	Unlimited
Endurance:	90 days
Test depth:	Over 300 m (984 ft 3 in)
Complement:	98 (capacity for 109)
Sensors and processing systems:	Thales Sonar 2076 Atlas DESO 25 echosounder 2 × Thales CM010 optronic masts Raytheon Successor IFF
Armament:	6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes with stowage for up to 38 weapons: Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes

External video

HMS Astute test-firing her first Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles

HMS Astute is an operational nuclear-powered submarine in the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class. Astute is the second submarine of the Royal Navy to be named after the characteristic of shrewdness and discernment—the first was the World War II-era Amphion-class Astute. She was the largest attack submarine in Royal Navy history when commissioned.

Built as a successor to the Trafalgar class, Astute is 50% bigger than the T-boats but has a smaller crew. The 7,400-tonne Astute's nuclear reactor will not need to be refuelled during the vessel's 25-year service. Since the submarine can purify water and air, she is able to circumnavigate the planet without resurfacing. The main limit is that the submarine can only carry three months' supply of food for 98 crew.

Astute has stowage for 38 weapons and was expected to typically carry both Spearfish heavy torpedoes and Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles, the latter costing £870,000 each.

Astute was ordered from GEC's Marconi Marine (now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions) on 17 March 1997. She was laid down at BAE's submarine facility in Barrow-in-Furness on 31 January 2001, 100 years to the day after the keel was laid down for the Royal Navy's first submarine Holland 1. She was the first submarine built in the UK since HMS Vengeance (launched in 1998).