No subamarines, submariners, commanders, Admirals, or Ministers of Defence, like being associated with surprising and expensive indiscretions. Hence HMS Ambush's misfortune on July 20, 2016.
Apparently Ambush surfaced too quickly into a third party - in this case a tanker. Not only the repair bill, but the downtime of having one of Britain's latest SSN types out of circulation will be unwelcome.
Before. It was all shiny and new.
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After. Looking very sorry.
All crumpled, dull (probably plastic taped over the damage) and unhappy.
The collission apparently happened during the UK Royal Navy run "Perisher" course for SSN Captain/Commander trainees. Whether Ambush was under the command of a trainee or instructor (known as "Teacher") is unknown.
Trainees captaining subs in Perisher occasionally duel with a Royal Navy destroyer or frigate or two. While trainees, under pressure, may be mainly focussed on their destroyer/frigate foe, they might not always sufficiently consider third parties, like tankers, who turn up when least expected.
Sonar operators and trainees viewing periscopes ideally spot third parties before the sub surfaces, but not always.
UK Perisher once included RAN trainees, but as Australia has no SSNs Australian trainees now do "Dutch Perisher" for conventional subs, run by the Royal Netherlands Navy.
On Australians in "Dutch Perisher" see this RAN Submarine Squadron magazine"The Trade" pages 10 -13 - large PDF.
Ouch!
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Pete