Royal Navy’s Newest Attack Submarine Completes Sea Trials
The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy have announced that HMS Anson, the fifth of its nuclear powered Astute-class attack boats has successfully completed sea trials and is undergoing a short maintenance period before beginning operations.
According to the Royal Navy “Anson spent time in waters off the UK coast and then sailed further north of Scotland to test her weapons systems with successful firings of both Spearfish and Tomahawk test missiles.” With further tests undertaken near the Bahamas at the US Navy’s Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC).
HMS Anson joined the fleet in August 2022, costing £1.3 billion ($1.65 billion) to build the attack submarine is equipped with Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles and up to 38 Spearfish MOD 1 heavyweight torpedoes. The submarine was commissioned at BAE Systems’ yard in Cumbria with the head of the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service, Commodore Paul Dunn, noting at the time that “the commissioning is a significant milestone for both Anson and the Submarine Service and I would like to thank the crew, BAE Systems and the ‘submarine enterprise’ for the delivery of our fifth Astute class.”
Anson is named after 18 century Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, a successful naval commander and reformer who was First Lord of the Admiralty during the Seven Years’ War. When HMS Anson was commissioned the current First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key, said: “Given the world we live in, there is no more important tool in the United Kingdom’s arsenal: silent, unseen, and a key instrument of our global, modern, ready Royal Navy. HMS Anson is the cutting edge in submarine design and construction… ensuring operational advantage in the underwater battlespace, the last great stealth domain.”
The Astute class is powered by Rolls-Royce PWR 2 nuclear reactor and can reach up to 30 knots submerged. They have a standard crew complement of 98 and can remain at sea, without replenishment, for up to 90 days. The final two Astute class boats are nearing completion with HMS Agamemnon recently christened and HMS Agincourt set to enter service in 2026.