British And French Nuclear Subs Collide

A Royal Navy nuclear submarine has collided with a French vessel in the middle of the Atlantic, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.

The crash between HMS Vanguard and French submarine Le Triomphant - which was also carrying nuclear warheads - is understood to have occurred on February 3 or 4.

Despite being equipped with sonar to detect other vessels, neither sub apparently realised the other was in the same part of the ocean.

Both France and the UK insisted nuclear security had not been compromised.

A senior Navy source told a British newspaper the potential consequences of such a collision were "unthinkable".

He said: "It's very unlikely there would have been a nuclear explosion. But a radioactive leak was a possibility. Worse, we could have the crew and warheads. That would have been a national disaster."

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band released a statement to confirm the incident.

He said: "Two submerged SSBN (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear), one French and the other UK, were conducting routine national patrols in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Recently, the two submarines came into contact at very low speed. Both submarines remained safe and no injuries occurred.

"We can confirm that the capability remained unaffected and there has been no compromise to nuclear safety."

He concluded: "HMS Vanguard returned safely to Faslane under her own power on 14 February."

France's defence ministry said in a statement, dated 6 February, that Le Triomphant "collided with an immersed object (probably a container)" when coming back from patrolling.

"The sonar dome, at the front, was damaged. This incident did not cause any injuries among the crew and did not threaten the nuclear security at any time," it said.

"The submarine came back by its own means to L'Ile Longue, escorted by a frigate, as it is the usual practice when leaving or coming back."

(JM/BMcC)