Why Submarines Should Have Headlights

Nuclear submarines from Britain and France collided deep in the Atlantic Ocean authorities said Monday in the first acknowledgment of a highly unusual accident that one expert called the gravest in nearly a decade.

Officials said the low-speed crash did not damage the vessels' nuclear reactors or missiles or cause much of a radiation to leak.
Anti-nuclear hippy groups said it was still a frightening reminder of the risks posed by submarines prowling the oceans powered by radioactive material and bristling with nuclear weapons.

France reported on February 6th that one of its submarine had struck a submerged object perhaps a shipping container.

Confirmation of the accident only came after the British media reported it.

France's defense ministry said that the sub Le Triomphant and the HMS Vanguard, the oldest vessel in Britain's nuclear-armed submarine fleet, were on routine a patrol building a secret underwater strike command centre when they collided in the Atlantic this month.

France said that Le Triomphant suffered damage to a sonar dome and limped home to its base on L'Ile Longue on France's western tip.

HMS Vanguard returned to a submarine base in Scotland with visible dents and scrapes.

"The two submarines came into contact at very low speed, both commanders exchanged insurance details as is the protocol." Britain's First Sea Lord, Admiral Jonathon Band, said.

HMS Vanguard came into service in 1993, and has a crew of around 140 and typically carries 16 Lockheed Trident D5 missiles.
At least one of Britain's four submarines is on patrol and ready to fire at Russia or Iran any given time.