A navy commander has pleaded guilty to crashing a £32million British nuclear submarine that was deployed in support of the 2001 assault on Afghanistan.
Commander Steven Drysdale, of Miskin, South Wales, will be sentenced in March after he admitted an offence of failing to ensure the submarine's 'safe direction' at a court martial yesterday.
HMS Superb was left stricken in the Red Sea after she was steered into underwater rocks - despite the massive stone pinnacle appearing on maritime charts.
Damaged: The HMS Superb crashed in the Red Sea after she was steered into underwater rocks - despite the massive stone pinnacle appearing on maritime charts Photo:dailymail
The nuclear-powered submarine was forced to surface following the smash, which damaged her sonar but left her reactor unaffected.
Two of his officers, Lt Cmdr Andrew Cutler and Lt Lee Blair, also admitted neglecting to perform their duty before the crash on May 26, 2008.
The three submariners all pleaded guilty at a court martial hearing in Portsmouth and were told they would be sentenced in March.
The smash was particularly embarrassing for defence chiefs as HMS Superb was part of the elite taskforce deployed in support of the 2001 assault on Afghanistan.
She was equipped with sonar and collision avoidance radar, and had undergone a multi-million pound refit only three years before the accident.
She was capable of being armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, although the Ministry of Defence has always refused to confirm if she was carrying the missiles at the time of the smash.
The Swiftsure class hunter-killer submarine hit the rock 80 miles south of the Suez canal in Egypt, after successfully negotiating the canal itself. (source : dailymail)
Superb came into service in 1976 and was the first British submarine to sail under the polar ice caps in the Arctic Ocean.
She was not the first British nuclear submarine to have been grounded at sea.
In 2002 HMS Trafalgar hit the seabed off the Scottish island of Skye, injuring three of her crew and causing £5million of damage.
She was equipped with sonar and collision avoidance radar, and had undergone a multi-million pound refit only three years before the accident.
She was capable of being armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, although the Ministry of Defence has always refused to confirm if she was carrying the missiles at the time of the smash.
The Swiftsure class hunter-killer submarine hit the rock 80 miles south of the Suez canal in Egypt, after successfully negotiating the canal itself. (source : dailymail)
She had been under the command of Mr Drysdale for almost two years, and the officer had served in the Royal Navy since 1984.
None of her 112-strong crew were injured but the 272ft submarine was badly damaged and was officially decommissioned four months later.
Superb came into service in 1976 and was the first British submarine to sail under the polar ice caps in the Arctic Ocean.
She was not the first British nuclear submarine to have been grounded at sea.
In 2002 HMS Trafalgar hit the seabed off the Scottish island of Skye, injuring three of her crew and causing £5million of damage.
Two senior officers received official reprimands for negligence after their courts martial heard that vital charts had been covered with tracing paper, to stop them being damaged by pen marks.
Post-it notes were placed over other systems to simulate battle damage and the sub's satellite navigation system was turned off while a trainee commander was put through an examination, nicknamed the 'pressure cooker'.
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