Coinciding with the commissioning ceremony of the sixth of the new Astute-class nuclear attack submarines, attended among others by King Charles III of England, BAE Systems carried out the first steel cut that marks the beginning of the construction of the fourth Dreadnought-class submarine for the Royal Navy. This is specifically the vessel HMS King George VI, which is configured as the fourth and last planned for this class of platforms, which constitute a pillar of the renewal of the Royal Navy’s submarine capabilities looking toward the future.
Expanding in detail, the ceremony was held at the shipyards of the aforementioned company in Barrow-in-Furness, a town whose port has been awarded the title of Royal Port in recognition granted by the British monarch himself. As such, the activity was presided over by the current Secretary of Defence John Healey, who detailed that HMS King George VI is expected to enter service at the beginning of the next decade and highlighted its role in the future continuous nuclear deterrence capability of the United Kingdom at sea.
It was Secretary Healey himself who stated during his speech: “Submarine construction is a vital industry in the United Kingdom, sustaining thousands of jobs and apprenticeships across the country, while keeping the nation safe 24 hours a day. Barrow is an exceptional example of how security and growth go hand in hand: it incorporates a new attack submarine into the fleet of the Royal Navy, builds the next generation of submarines with nuclear armament, and at the same time drives thousands of qualified local jobs and apprenticeship programs.”
In line with these statements, it is important to remember that the nuclear defense sector in the United Kingdom has a significant impact in terms of jobs, which is currently estimated at about 47,000 workers, with projections to increase this number to 65,000 by 2030. Within the Barrow shipyard itself, BAE Systems employs about 13,500 people associated with the Royal Navy’s submarine programs, in addition to training new apprentices through the so-called Submarine Skills and Knowledge Academy.
On the other hand, a curiosity of the occasion is that this will be the first vessel of the Royal Navy to be named in honor of King George VI, grandfather of the current monarch of the United Kingdom and who participated in the First World War as a naval officer. The ship thus breaks with a line of Dreadnought-class submarines that took names inherited from former submarines and battleships of the Royal Navy, namely: HMS Dreadnought, HMS Warspite, and HMS Valiant; the first of them began to be built in March of this very year.
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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