Royal Navy’s Newest Astute Class Submarine Officially Named in Barrow

The sixth of the Royal Navy’s leading-edge Astute-class hunter-killer submarines has been formally named – a key milestone on the road to front-line operations. HMS Agamemnon will act as both sword and protector – able to strike at foes on land courtesy of her Tomahawk cruise missile – and fend off threats on and beneath the waves with Spearfish torpedoes. Nearly 11 years after the first steel was cut on the 7,000-tonne Fleet submarine at BAE Systems’ yard in Barrow-in-Furness, the state-of-the-art boat was unveiled to VIPs, led by the submarine’s Sponsor Lady Sedwill, affiliates, friends and family and those who have toiled on ‘Awesome Aggie’ as she’s known by crew, since 2013. In a ceremony which mixed a hi-tech light show and displays with Royal Navy tradition inside the cavernous Devonshire Dock Hall which dominates the Barrow skyline, it fell to Lady Sedwill, who visited the boat late last year to catch up on progress with construction, to address the crew and then smash a bottle of locally brewed-beer – in keeping with the yard’s tradition – to bless Agamemnon and all who will serve aboard for the next 25-plus years.