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Nuclear submarines collide in Atlantic

16 February 2009 09:12 (UTC +04:00)

Londonâ€“APA. British and French nuclear submarines which collided deep under the Atlantic could have sunk or released deadly radioactivity, it emerged last night. According to APA, the sensational news was reported by The Sun. The Royal Navyâ€™s HMS Vanguard and the French Navyâ€™s Le Triomphant are both nuclear powered and were carrying nuke missiles. Between them they had around 250 sailors on board. A senior Navy source said: â€œThe potential consequences are unthinkable. Itâ€™s very unlikely there would have been a nuclear explosion. â€œBut a radioactive leak was a possibility. Worse, we could have lost the crew and warheads. That would have been a national disaster.â€ Vanguard is one of Britainâ€™s four V-Class subs forming our Trident nuclear deterrent. Each is armed with 16 ballistic missiles. It was last night towed into Faslane in Scotland, with dents and scrapes visible on her hull. Le Triomphant limped to Brest with extensive damage to her sonar dome. Le Triomphant has a crew of 101. Vanguard weighs 16,000 tons, is 150 meters long and has a crew of 140.