The Sun reported that the British Navy has almost lost one of the four Vanguard-class nuclear attack attack attack attack U-boats due to a malfunction in the decades-old ship.
The newspaper said a disaster was on the verge of happening as the Submarine equipped with the Trident II nuclear missile was preparing to conduct a patrol mission in the Atlantic. The newspaper did not disclose the date of the incident.
According to a source from The Sun, the depth measuring device on the Royal Navy ship was broken. This made the commanders believe that the Submarine was still lying mentally, while in reality it continued to sink deeper.
The ship with 140 crew members is said to have approached the "danger zone", where it could be pressured by water. Fortunately, engineers in the rear cabin detected the second sensor's signal and sent an alarm signal. Thanks to that, the ship avoided the worst disaster of the British Royal Navy since World War II, the newspaper wrote.
The engineers' job was not to control the depth of the Submarine, but they realized something was wrong. The Sun said it was impossible to name the Submarine or the unsafe depth of the ship for security reasons.
According to the newspaper, if the Submarine continues to sink, it will sink. If such a disaster occurs, a nightmare rescue operation is required to confiscate the decomposed ship and its nuclear reactor, the newspaper commented.
A spokesperson for the Royal Navy told The Telegraph: Although we do not comment on specific details related to the operation of the Submarine, the safety of our staff is always a top priority.
Our Submarines continue to fulfill their commitments, deploy operations globally, protect national interests and keep the safety of us and our allies, the spokesperson added.
Four Vanguard-class nuclear attack subscribers - Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance - were built by the UK from 1986 to 1999. However, currently, only two of these are operating, one is being upgraded and the other is being tested at sea after repairs.
In February, The Sun reported that the Royal Navy had issued an investigation order after discovering broken pores in the HMS Vanguard reactor compartment that had been fixed with super-stick glue.
The UK's largest military ship, HMS Prince of Wales, has also encountered many technical problems. The Times reported late last year that the £32 billion ($3.8 billion) aircraft carrier had spent more time docking for repairs than for duties since it was put into operation in 2019.
