Apprentice working on Royal Navy nuclear submarine HMS Audacious 'seriously injured' and hospitalised
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The engineering apprentice was working on a nuclear attack submarine when he was badly injured
A worker has been hospitalised after being “seriously injured” following an incident on a nuclear submarine.
The Daily Mirror reports that an apprentice from the defence giant Babcock International was badly hurt while working on HMS Audacious. The Royal Navy submersible is currently dry docked at Devonport naval base in Plymouth, the only nuclear submarine refitting site in the UK.
A spokesperson for Babcock told the national publication that an incident occurred on April 2, but did not provide further details. An investigation was launched after the staff member was “seriously injured”, the Daily Mirror said. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the independent regulator for work-related health and safety incidents, is aware of the matter.
"On April 2, a Babcock colleague was taken to hospital following an incident at our Devonport site and our focus is on their wellbeing,” a company spokesperson said. “An investigation is underway to establish the cause of the incident. The health and safety of everyone working across our operations is our absolute priority." The HSE added: “We are aware of this incident and making enquiries."
HMS Audacious, the fourth Astute-class submarine built at the BAE Systems yard at Barrow-in-Furness, had her ceremonial commissioning into the fleet on September 23, 2021. She can hold up to 38 weapons in six 21ins torpedo tubes - capable of firing Tomahawk Block IV land-attack missiles and Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes.
The A-class boat has worked in the Mediterranean alongside Nato colleagues in the past. She hit the headlines after completing a 363 day deployment in April 2023, the longest ev3er for any Astute-class.
HMS Audacious has been inactive for over a year, with maintenance work facing delays due to a lack of facilities. Navy Lookout reported that she was dry-docked in February last year after a 22 month wait.