After a pretty heavy night Liberally Drinking, I have only just surfaced. It is a shame that this cannot be said for HMS Astute*. It seems that Astute ought to have surfaced some time earlier than she did. Or else, paid attention to the depth charts. Somebody is going to be in trouble on HMS Astute.

The Royal Navy has a website (like everyone nowadays). A screenshot is shown below.

Apparently the Royal Navy is

Capable and Resilient

Well capable of running aground. Yes.

Resilient – well it still exists, though we may have to stretch the CSR to pay the repair bill. Two aircraft carriers without planes next?

Also, the Royal Navy is there to

Defend, Deter, and Defeat

Defend – not against the Isle of Skye. This is not the first time that a submarine of Her Majesty’s fleet has fallen foul of the waters around Skye.

Submarine HMS Trafalgar sustained millions of pounds worth of damage when it ran aground off Skye in 2002.

from BBC

Deter – maybe it will deter people joining a service that can’t even navigate

Defeat – obviously the navigator was defeated.

And also, just for the record, that screenshot is from today – with the latest news being HMS Astute sailing proudly from Faslane. What are the Lords of the Admiralty going to say about this crash?

*Astute: adjective having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one’s advantage. (from New Oxford Dictionary of English (Oxford: 1998), p. 104, column a.)