As Keir Starmer and John Healey arrive in Faslane today, nuclear-armed HMS Vanguard was spotted returning to the base on Monday, after making a worrying new record of 204 days at sea and adding to the growing list of concerns around Britain’s nuclear weapons programme.
Patrols in excess of six months have become an unsustainable norm for the Royal Navy, with a record of 195 days set in 2023 and a 201 day record in 2024. The records came amid reports of accidents onboard Vanguard vessels, including an electrical fire on HMS Victorious, and a faulty depth gauge on another vessel which led to it plummeting towards the seabed, before disaster was averted.
More dangers are emerging around Britain’s nuclear bases too, with radioactive air emissions at Coulport, located just 8 miles from Faslane, rising year on year.
Rather than seeing these extended patrols as a source of pride, we should be concerned about the risk of a nuclear accident on ageing submarines with crews who are being put under increased pressure by spending extended periods away from home.
The average patrol on the previous generation of nuclear submarines rarely exceeded 60-70 day. Back in 2022, former submarine commander Rob Forsyth expressed concern that crews were regularly spending over 150 days at sea, and what impacts this would have on crew discipline, morale, and psychological wellbeing. In the three years since raising those concerns, patrols have increased by 30%.
Breakdown in discipline and poor judgement is rife. In 2024, it was reported a nuclear submarine commander was sacked after filming an indecent sexual video with a sailor under his command. Another senior officer, Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Stone, was sacked in 2022 after sharing top secret information about Vanguard submarines movement with a junior officer her was having an affair with.
During a Royal Navy inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse and bullying of female staff, whistleblower Sophie Brook also detailed how some male submariners compiled a crush depth rape list in the event of a catastrophic failure onboard a submarine.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“While reporting on this record-breaking patrol paints it as some sort of heroic triumph, the reality is anything but. Nuclear threats are at an all-time high and the added pressure of increasingly long periods at sea on ageing and malfunctioning vessels, with reported disciplinary problems throughout the submarine hierarchy, shows how incredibly reckless it is to sustain these patrols. The government has to accept the reality that this deadly weapons system needs to be scrapped .”
Image credit: John Healey / Twitter