Protected against the elements by what must be the
world’s largest black bin bag, this is a huge section of HMS
Dreadnought on the move.
This section of the first of the Submarine Service’s
next-generation strategic deterrent boats is the largest segment
or ‘mega unit’ of Dreadnought yet completed.
It’s also the longest section of a submarine moved through the
streets of Barrow-in-Furness from BAE Systems’ fabrication
facility to the cavernous Devonshire Dock Hall which dominates
the skyline of the Cumbrian town.
No-one at BAE Submarines has moved a submarine section of this
size (over 20 long) in 30 years, when a low-loader carefully
transported the 34-metre-long fore-end ‘mega unit’ of HMS
Vengeance, the last of the Vanguard-class submarines.
With those beginning to near the end of their active lives, four
successors will be built. Dreadnought leads the way, ahead of HMS
Warspite and Valiant (also under construction), with work yet to
start on boat number 4, HMS King George VI.
All will be assembled under cover in the dock hall – 260m long,
58m wide and 51m high, making it almost large enough to
accommodate the Titanic – where the final two Astute-class
submarines, HMS Agamemnon and Agincourt, are in the later stages
of construction/completion, and where the ‘mega unit’ will take
its place on the Dreadnought build line.
Dreadnought is due to enter service in the early 2030s while the
V-boats begin retiring after four decades carrying out Operation
Relentless, the UK’s strategic deterrence mission.
