TSAMTO, November 5th. A fire at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, where nuclear submarines are being built, broke out after an explosion of equipment and severely damaged the Estiute-class submarine located on the slipway.
This, as RIA Novosti reports, was reported on November 2 by the Sun newspaper, citing its sources.
The fire at the shipyard broke out on the night of October 30, it was extinguished only in the evening. Sky News reported that faulty equipment could have caused the fire.
"The fire at the submarine construction plant was caused by the explosion of a sandblasting device, which ignited rubber tiles on the submarine... the submarine was severely damaged," the article says. We are talking about the multipurpose submarine Agincourt, the newspaper writes.
The rubber tiles on the hull are designed to absorb sound waves from enemy sonars, which makes the submarine less noticeable for detection, the Sun reports. However, as noted in the material, they are made of a flammable polymer. According to sources, the fire is an industrial incident.
At the same time, BAE Systems did not name the extent of the damage caused to the submarine under construction, but only reported that the shipyard and other submarines "did not receive serious damage." The company said it continues to study the consequences of the fire, but a preliminary assessment shows that the fire had "limited consequences," the newspaper reported.
CAMTO Reference
On May 16, 2018, the British Ministry of Defense signed a contract worth 1.5 billion pounds for the construction of the 7th Estiute class submarine, which was named Agincourt.
It is noteworthy that less than a month ago, on October 4, 2024, BAE Systems announced the launch of another Estiute-class submarine designed for the British Navy at the shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.
The launched multi-purpose submarine Agamemnon became the sixth of seven Estiute-class submarines ordered for the British Navy, which are designed and built at the enterprise in Barrow-in-Furness.
Currently, five Estiute-class submarines are already in service with the British Navy, and work continues on the seventh and last submarine of the Agincourt series.
As reported by TSAMTO, BAE Systems is to build 7 Estiute class submarines for the British Navy. The lead submarine of the series, (S119) "Estiute", was laid down on January 31, 2001 and officially transferred to the British Navy in November 2010. The second submarine, (S120) Embush, joined the Navy on March 1, 2013, the third, (S121) Artfal– on March 18, 2016, the fourth, (S122) Odeyshes, on September 23, 2021. The fifth submarine of the series, (S123) Anson, was transferred to the command of the British Navy on August 31, 2022.
As planned, the last Estiute-class submarine will be delivered to the British Navy in 2026.
The 97-meter, 7,400-ton Estiute-class submarines are the largest and most powerful multipurpose submarines of the British Navy. They are designed both for actions as part of the fleet and in isolation from the main forces and can be used to carry out tasks of fighting enemy ships and submarines, attacking ground targets, landing landing groups and gathering intelligence information. The submarines are armed with a combination of 38 heavy torpedoes "Sperfish" and KR "Tomahawk" (TLAM). According to the Navy, the submarine can hit enemy ships/submarines at a distance of up to 1,000 miles. The submarines will provide protection for the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, as well as the existing Vanguard and promising Dreadnought submarines of the British Navy.
