The news that all 12 Royal Navy nuclear powered attack submarines have been taken out of service because of a possible mechanical defect is serious. A small crack in the reactor coolant pipe of HMS Tireless has kept it at Gibraltar since May. It had already become a difficult political issue between the UK and Gibraltar. The MOD had given repeated assurances that the rectification work necessary was entirely safe, but the local residents remained concerned. That work seems now to have revealed a more serious failure in the piping, and one which might be present in the other submarines using similar nuclear reactors.
The Royal Navy in the mid 90's opted to dispose of its last conventional powered submarines: four brand new Upholder class boats. At the time, there were those who expressed doubts about the wisdom of losing this capability. However there were arguments in the post Cold War reshaping of forces for reducing the number of different types of submarine to be supported, and the Upholder was felt to have less relevance to future operations. Since then the remaining nuclear powered attack submarines were to have been progressively fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles. The first use of this capability was seen when HMS Splendid fired a fair part of the UK stock of cruise missiles during the Kosovo air campaign earlier this year. The attack submarines also have an important role in protecting the Trident nuclear deterrent boats as they go on patrol. The lack of any substitute for this task is perhaps the most critical aspect of what is a serious problem.
It is probably impossible to estimate how long this problem will last. It may be that HMS Tireless turns out to be the only submarine with a problem, and that the others can be returned to service after a relatively rapid check. However, if the cracks are more widespread, availability of servicing facilities will become a critical issue. This is a salutary reminder of the dangers of cutting back on breadth of capability to the extent that a single failure can cripple a complete role. An element of redundancy is a price worth paying in key defence areas. It might have been better to retain the Upholders, even if that meant cutting back on the nuclear powered fleet.