Russian submarine collides with British warship’s sonar in North Atlantic

The incident, the first of its kind documented and made public, happened during a ‘cat and mouse game’ in the North Atlantic.

Channel 5 documented the mission for its series Warship: Life at Sea

A Russian submarine collided with a British warship’s trailing sonar during a cat-and-mouse game in the North Atlantic in late 2020, forcing the Royal Navy to abort its mission.

Television footage captures the moment crew on board HMS Northumberland sound the alarm, shouting “what the hell was that?” and “what the f..k have I just hit?” as the submarine crashes into its towed array sonar.

It is believed to be the first time such an incident has been documented and made public.

Towed array sonar uses hundreds of microphones attached to a cable, trailing behind a submarine or, in this particular case, a Type 23 frigate. The technology is designed to detect and track quiet submarines and is positioned hundreds of metres away from the ship.

HMS Northumberland was on a 48-hour hunt to find the submarine in late 2020 amid concerns the Russians could try to tap into undersea cables essential for communication.

Channel 5 documented the mission for its series, Warship: Life At Sea. The footage shows the moment what is believed to be a Russian submarine appears above the surface of the water, an extremely rare event. Its periscope and a communication mast can be seen above the water level.

At one point during the mission Commander Thom Hobbs, the warship’s captain, says: “We are very close to the submarine – we are probably parallel. If they were on the surface we would definitely see faces.”

Shortly afterwards the submarine appears to turn sharply in what is described by those on board as an “aggressive move” and collides with the towed array sonar, which is the diameter of a fist.

At the time, it is believed the Russian submarine knew HMS Northumberland was there.

How it works. Source: The Times

Navy sources said that finding the towed array sonar in the sea would have been like finding a “needle in a haystack” and said the collision must have been an accident. The sonar, which was recovered in its entirety, was damaged to such an extent that the ship had to return to port and the sonar had to be replaced. The towed array sonar is believed to cost about £20m ($37.8m). Navy sources believe the submarine is likely to have been damaged.

Commander Ryan Ramsey, a former naval officer who was captain of the hunter-killer submarine HMS Turbulent, said the collision was almost certainly accidental but that things “can rapidly escalate, particularly against a capable adversary such as the Russian submarine force”.

HMS Northumberland was on a 48-hour hunt to find the Russian submarine in late 2020 amid concerns it could try and tap into undersea cables essential for communication and the internet

Tom Sharpe, a former Royal Navy commander who drove the anti-submarine warfare frigate HMS St Albans, said: “The Russian threat to our undersea communications is real, on our doorstep and ever increasing. It’s hard to overstate the effect a major disruption of it would cause.

“This could have been an accident – a close pass gone wrong. It could also have been deliberate.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “In late 2020 a Russian submarine being tracked by HMS Northumberland came into contact with her towed array sonar. The Royal Navy regularly tracks foreign ships and submarines in order to ensure the defence of the United Kingdom.”

The Times