HMS Astute's Dockside Testing & Out to Sea

Here and above is a Youtube "BAE Systems Maratime (Building of Astute Class Submarine). It was uploaded June 29, 2014 but most is August 2009. It is about design and  dockside testing of HMS Astute. The last few minutes are particularly inspiring. Highlights include:

4 min 51 secs Barrow-in-Furness is a submarine shipyard "town" of 60,000 people launching its first sub Abdül Hamid in 1887. That first sub used a coal fired steam engine, with minimal batteries, for a few minutes submerged.

7:02 Barrow is the only site in the UK "where we design, build, test and commission nuclear submarines" [all these facilities and workforce specialties will need to be duplicated in Adelaide, whatever it costs]

7:30 show gets down to Astutes subs.

15:32 "A submarine packs in 3 times more machinery and equipment than any surface ship [of the same weight]"

15:45 Space for 2 x MTU Diesel generators - shows noise reduction mounting. 

20:05 Command Deck Module with navigation and Combat System

31:20 Spearfish Torpedo slid in and sub uses Tomahawks

32:00 RN crew test Astute's Combat System in wargame exercise, still dockside.

35:00 Nuclear emergency measures - whole message seems "no worries".

40:26 -  as at August 2009? "Astute is over 4 years late and overspent by about 800 million pounds" [and that sub is being built by the UK submarine experts - more efficient than Australia!] 

40:28 September 5, 2009 "and we're starting barrage(?) testing"  

44:00 "testing a new design reactor" [its the PWR2 (Core H) as against the PWR2 (Core Gs) originally fitted in the Vanguard SSBNs] 

53:05 November 14-15, 2009 Astute exits dock area to sea.