Faslane Naval Base News

The Royal Navy's latest submarine, HMS Artful, will be officially commissioned at a ceremony today. It will take place at Faslane naval base on the Clyde, with representatives of the Royal Navy and the companies that built the vessel present. Guest of honor at the ceremony will be the submarine's sponsor Lady Amanda Zambellas, who named the vessel during its launch in 2014. Artful, the third of the Royal Navy’s new Astute-class attack submarines, has been busy conducting her final Contractor Sea Trials ahead of her maiden deployment. The sophisticated submarine sailed from Barrow-in-Furness in August last year for her new home at HM Naval Base Clyde and since then has been proving her systems and equipment at sea.

The Royal Navy’s submarine base at Faslane – home to Britain’s nuclear deterrent – is to receive a more than 500 million pounds investment grant from the Government, reports Reuters. Chancellor George Osborne says this move will safeguard 6,700 jobs at the Scottish site and create thousands more. Faslane would be the base for the new submarines. The Faslane naval base on the River Clyde, east of Glasgow, is home to the fleet of four Vanguard-class submarines, one of which is on patrol at all times, that form Britain's 'Trident' nuclear deterrent. The money will be spent on "ship lifts, sea walls, jetties and other major projects" and that work will start in 2017, the government said in a statement.

Leaders of Britain's defense unions claim to have uncovered secret plans to axe over 1,400 jobs at Scotland's Rosyth naval base as part of a wider Ministry of Defense shake-up of navy repair services. The government and the company involved vigorously deny the claims. The MoD announced last April it was reviewing its warship maintenance and support procedures to account for the reduced size of the Royal Navy and the increased durability of modern ships. Unions at the time said the review would result in 1,000 job losses and a further 2,500 pushed into the private sector, with the Faslane naval base west of Glasgow bearing the brunt of the cutbacks.

The BBC reported that a passenger ferry on the River Clyde was caught up in an international war exercise. Operation Neptune Warrior, a training exercise for Nato warships, is taking place off the west coast of Scotland. A threat by the U.S. Navy to fire on unidentified ships was transmitted to the Kilcreggan to Gourock ferry as it crossed a ship's path. A spokesman for HM Naval Base Clyde said the ferry was in no danger and an investigation is under way. The MV Kenilworth was making its regular 10-minute crossing at about 0940 BST on Monday when the incident happened. The ship was leaving Faslane naval base for the two-week exercise. It is understood it mistakenly broadcast a warning on VHF Channel 16, the international calling and distress frequency, instead of on an exercise frequency.