British nuclear sub runs aground

The HMS Astute has become stuck off the coast of Scotland.

It’s been a tough week for the British Navy. On Tuesday the government announced budget cuts that will halve its aircraft carrier fleet, reduce its warship force by a quarter, and eliminate 5,000 of the Senior Service’s 35,000 positions. Then yesterday came the embarrassing news that the Navy’s most advanced nuclear submarine has run aground near the Isle of Skye and will have to wait for tugboats to dislodge it later today. The 7,200-tonne sub was dropping a group of sailors ashore when the rapidly ebbing tide left it stranded. Navy officials said that the craft’s reactor is intact and there is no danger of a nuclear accident.