Video Shows HMS Anson Attack Submarine Completely Submerge with 60 On Board

The Brits commissioned back then a number of seven Astute-class submarines. Four of them have been completed since, and are patrolling the deep seas and oceans wearing the names HMS Astute, HMS Ambush, HMS Artful and HMS Audacious.

The fifth, the one we are here to talk about today, is still in the making. It’s called HMS Anson, and last we heard anything of it was back in April of last year, when it entered sea trials.

All the tests it did so far did not involve it submerging with crew on board, though. This important step, one the Navy calls trim dive, was performed at the end of last week in a dock at the Barrow shipyard in the UK. Below this text is a short video of the test, showing the beast disappear under the water.

The test was performed with over 60 crew on board, and tons of ballast, and required the 7,400 tons submarine to completely go beneath the water. We are not being told for how long the Anson stayed there, but it was enough for engineers and crew to “prove her water-tight integrity, test sensors and put some of our systems through their tests ahead of sailing for the first time.”

One of the most important aspects that were chased during the dive were the setting of the ship’s center of gravity, the testing of stability, and the measuring of the thing’s precise weight.

Like all the others of its breed, the HMS Anson is 97 meters (318 feet) long, is powered by a nuclear reactor, and can carry a crew of 98 without the need to resupply its food reserves for up to 90 days.