Archive for the 'Navies' Category
First images of HMAS Sydney
The first photographs and video of HMAS Sydney II, taken at a depth of more than 2 kilometres by the research ship SV Geosounder, have now been released on the Finding Sydney Foundation website.
HMAS Sydney’s lifeboats are seen strewn over the debris field in this picture from the Geosounder’s remotely operated camera
Royal Navy sub an awesome sight
Although she’s four years late and a massive £900 million over budget, the Royal Navy’s super-sub HMS Astute is an awesome sight.
More complex than the space shuttle, and able to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing, the 7,400-ton monster is the largest and deadliest hunter-killer submarine ever built.
As long as a football pitch, at 318 ft (97 metres) and as wide as four double-decker buses, HMS Astute is a third longer than any sub which has gone before.
Her nuclear-powered engine will propel her through the water at more than 20 knots, yet the UK’s first stealth sub makes less noise than a baby dolphin, making her as good as undetectable by enemy ships.
Astute’s sonar is so advanced that if she was lying in the English Channel she would be able to detect ships leaving New York harbour 3,000 nautical miles (5550km) away.
The nuclear reactor will never need refuelling, and with an ability to make oxygen and drinking water out of sea water, the sub could stay underwater for its entire 25-year life span were it not for the needs of the crew.
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