HC Deb 05 February 2001 vol 362 cc358-9W
Mr. Quentin Davies

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the state of readiness and expected date of return to full serviceability of each of the Royal Navy's S and T class submarines. [147570]

Mr. Spellar

HMS Triumph, a Trafalgar class submarine, is ready for operations (although currently undergoing short-term maintenance) and the remaining S and T class submarines are at 90 days' or more notice for operations undergoing either defect repair or long-term maintenance. We anticipate that eight submarines (Superb, Sceptre, Splendid, Trafalgar, Tireless, Torbay, Turbulent and Talent) will be available for operations by the end of this year, at which time the current operational boat, HMS Triumph, will be undergoing maintenance. The remaining three submarines (Sovereign, Spartan and Trenchant) will be in longer-term maintenance or refit. The exact state of readiness of individual submarines is withheld under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.