Vanguard goes out a Submarine, comes back a Kraken

[Jake899]

British SSBN Vanguard class returned to Faslane this weekend after a six month deployment. Seems to have had a somewhat strenuous time of it, lots of tiles exchanged for a pretty impressive new coat. Outside probably smells as bad as the inside for once. Welcome home lads! Now get scrubbing!

[ralphrj]

Do they normally look like that when they return from deployment or is this unusual?

[Jake899]

This is very unusual. But then most deployments are a couple of months long tops.

So people are wondering...
Is this deployment a test of the Vanguard endurance?
Is there a problem with other subs of this class that means this sub had to pull a triple shift to compensate?

Stuff we know for certain;

It's been somewhere warm.
It's been stationary/going very slow for long periods.
It's probably not very stealthy any more.
The boys will be gagging for a hot shower, a cold beer and a windy walk.

[Crudeoink]

Its just wearing its Desert camo

[46and2]

Inside is probably worse.

[Jo-say8k]

How much shore leave do they get after 6 months?

[Ronstein]

Anything that's been underwater for 6 months is liable to get a bit skanky!! They only stop at 6 months because that's the limit for the amount of food they can carry!!

[simon_harris]

should have ceramic coated it

[MikeGTi]

Jo-say8k said:

How much shore leave do they get after 6 months?

I think the army calculated it as 1 day of leave for every 9 deployed, not sure if that's across MoD though.

[Boom78]

That’s going to be absolutely buzzin after a few days in the sun!

[williamp]

Yeah one for the detailing thread. Bif of paint correction etc

[Magnum 475]

Jake899 said:

This is very unusual. But then most deployments are a couple of months long tops.

So people are wondering...
Is this deployment a test of the Vanguard endurance?
Is there a problem with other subs of this class that means this sub had to pull a triple shift to compensate?

Stuff we know for certain;

It's been somewhere warm.
It's been stationary/going very slow for long periods.
It's probably not very stealthy any more.
The boys will be gagging for a hot shower, a cold beer and a windy walk.

The boys will be gagging for more than that!!

[BrettMRC]

Shallow, warm water...?

[S600BSB]

Presumably been out for so long due to whatever was supposed to replace it on patrol being broken? Lots of things are!

[Yertis]

Jake899 said:

This is very unusual. But then most deployments are a couple of months long tops.

So people are wondering...
Is this deployment a test of the Vanguard endurance?
Is there a problem with other subs of this class that means this sub had to pull a triple shift to compensate?

Stuff we know for certain;

It's been somewhere warm.
It's been stationary/going very slow for long periods.
It's probably not very stealthy any more.
The boys will be gagging for a hot shower, a cold beer and a windy walk.

Given that people are wondering that, they presumably want certain people to know that it's been wherever it's been. Otherwise surely they'd slip in at night. Or is there some submarine reason why that's not possible? Tide or whatever.

[Equus]

BrettMRC said:

Shallow, warm water...?

Certainly, Shackleton's 'Endurance' is looking a lot less scabby than that, after over a century under the antarctic.

[LotusOmega375D]

Pah, you should see the inside of our kettle.

[Collectingbrass]

Yertis said:

Jake899 said:

This is very unusual. But then most deployments are a couple of months long tops.

So people are wondering...
Is this deployment a test of the Vanguard endurance?
Is there a problem with other subs of this class that means this sub had to pull a triple shift to compensate?

Stuff we know for certain;

It's been somewhere warm.
It's been stationary/going very slow for long periods.
It's probably not very stealthy any more.
The boys will be gagging for a hot shower, a cold beer and a windy walk.

Given that people are wondering that, they presumably want certain people to know that it's been wherever it's been. Otherwise surely they'd slip in at night. Or is there some submarine reason why that's not possible? Tide or whatever.

There's two tides in a 24 Hour day at Faslane, they want someone to "know" where it's been. How warm is the Black Sea in the summer months?

[Countdown]

Collectingbrass said:

There's two tides in a 24 Hour day at Faslane, they want someone to "know" where it's been. How warm is the Black Sea in the summer months?

It's a ballistic missile submarine. Surely you'd want to keep it as far away as possible from the enemy?

[LotusOmega375D]

I think I read somewhere that the Turks won’t let unannounced submarines through the Bosphorus and it’s very tricky to navigate it underwater anyway.