For Argyll

HMS Superb, the Swiftsure class nuclear submarine operating out of Argyll’s Faslane Naval Base and which grounded recently on a rock in the Red Sea is now at Nato’s naval facility at Souda Bay in Crete. The grounding damaged its sonar and buoyancy beyond immediate repair, leaving it incapable of submerging. After Jordanian divers based at Aqaba carried out an initial underwater survey on the hull, the vessel was cleared to limp through the Suez Canal and into Souda Bay for detailed inspection. As we have reported before, Superb may be scrapped earlier than planned if the cost of repair is too great. The Royal Navy has now said that the circumstances of the grounding are still being investigated and will be the subject of a formal Board of Inquiry.