Great Britain - Nuclear submarine on hold

The "HMS Audacious" had to wait a whole two years for necessary work on the outer hull before it could finally move into dry dock number 15 in Devonport as part of its shipyard repair phase. After a one-year deployment in the Mediterranean from 2022 to 2023, the fourth attack boat in the Astute class (97 metres long, 7,500 tonnes submerged) needed a dry berth sooner than expected for urgently needed work on the outer hull.

HMS Audacious, Photo: RN Crown Copyright

However, Dock 15 first had to be remodelled and adapted to the dimensions of the Astute class - after four years in which the last boat of the ageing Trafalgar class was still berthed there. The conversion could not begin immediately, however, as the construction teams first had to maintain another dock for the strategic Vanguard-class submarines - which have top priority as carriers of nuclear deterrence.

At the same time, a third dock was to be prepared for the future decades-long scrapping of the nuclear-armed boats, which will gradually be decommissioned as soon as the new dreadnought-class units are commissioned.

The situation should ease from 2027: A fourth dock will then be completed in Devonport, and a floating dock for Scotland should also have been procured by then. One thing is certain: The maintenance work on the dock facilities themselves has recently been unable to keep pace with the maintenance planning for the submarines. Shortage of skilled labour in the United Kingdom.