Originally Posted by Mike
Surprised that a civilian party was permitted on the boat in the first place.
Hi Mike,
The vessel was on a goodwill visit to Southampton and as part of these visits the boat will be open to visitors. I have no idea of any restrictions that might be imposed when visiting a state of the art hunter killer submarine, but the visit will have been well planned and all the issues taken cared of.
Originally Posted by gr
Just a minor point in this tragedy, would it not be better if steps were taken now to ensure the security element [at all service establishments] were undertaken by those who's career path is, er, "security" and not some press ganged cook or techie with [or without] a chip on their shoulder?
It would be nice if there were specialists for every conceivable task on our warships BUT sadly space is always at a premium. The Astute is over 7400 tonnes and has a published compliment of just 98 Officers and enlisted personnel. That number is amazing when we compare it to the Trafalgar class submarine which has a published compliment of 130 Officers and enlisted personnel and is much, much smaller boat. (5000 tonnes) My point is that there is no room for 'security' personnel that will just 'man the gate' when the boat is in harbour and gangway duties will always be shared out among the crew.