CND Press Officer Pádraig McCarrick examines how Britain’s nuclear submarine system is being stretched on all sides.
Patrols lasting more than six and a half months have become a worrying new normal for Britain’s nuclear-armed submarine fleet, with Keir Starmer welcoming home the crew of a new record-setting patrol last month.
The Prime Minister, alongside Defence Secretary John Healey, toured the Vanguard-class submarine and met its crew during an unannounced ‘defence and security trip’ to Faslane on Saturday 18 April. The sub had returned to port after 205 days at sea, breaking a previous record of 204 days set in March 2025.
The latest patrol is the ninth in a row to exceed over five months with six and a half months becoming a worrying trend for Britain’s nuclear subs and their crews.
For comparison, the average patrol on the previous generation of Resolution-class nuclear submarines rarely exceeded 60-70 days. Back in 2022, former submarine commander Rob Forsyth expressed concern that crews were regularly spending over 150 days at sea, and what impact this would have on crew discipline, morale, and psychological wellbeing. In the four years since raising those concerns, patrols have increased by 30%.
Breakdown in discipline and poor judgement among crews has been documented. 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 submarine movement with a junior officer with whom he was having an affair.
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.
Subs under growing strain
Delays to the mid-life refit and refuelling of the Vanguard fleet have exasperated problems. HMS Vanguard’s refit overran by four years which delayed HMS Victorious entering its own maintenance phase while putting further strain on the other two vessels in the system.
During this time, there have been reports of accidents onboard Vanguard vessels, including an electrical fire on HMS Victorious. A faulty depth gauge on another vessel almost caused a fatal accident which led to it plummeting towards the seabed. The crew were seconds from disaster before they noticed what was happening on another gauge and corrected.
Spiralling costs
While nuclear weapons spending accounts for between 20-25% of the Ministry of Defence’s budget, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) watchdog has repeatedly warned the government that projects related to the modernisation of Britain’s nuclear submarine are failing or at risk of failing.
Meanwhile the National Audit Office has called out the government’s costings of giving the Royal Air Force a nuclear role as “unrealistic”. It announced last year it will purchase nuclear-capable F-35As to be assigned to NATO’s nuclear mission.
Rather than cutting these failing programmes, Starmer has instead faced calls to cut welfare budgets in order to fund a surge in military spending, including from former Tory defence secretaries and the British former NATO Secretary General, George Robertson.
However, while cutting welfare to fund warfare may be popular with some politicians and arms companies, Starmer’s Labour is facing pressure at the polls and within his own party. His press trip to Faslane did not include a meeting with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who in March called on the PM to resign for making “too many mistakes” during his leadership.
Since multiple reports from government agencies deem various nuclear projects unsustainable, why keep up this deadly farce any longer? Nuclear arms control is under threat of collapse, with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s own chief warning of the real risk of nuclear proliferation in the years ahead. With diplomats in New York for the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, there is a real opportunity for Britain to cut its losses on nuclear weapons while showing global leadership. It can start by breaking its special nuclear relationship with the US and abiding by its disarmament obligations under the NPT.
Picture used for article by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street