The submariners presented to employees at the Ministry of Defence owned company, outlining what life on the world’s most advanced submarine is really like, and the Bond of Friendship will see both parties to work together to promote joint aims and share news of the submarine’s progress.
HMS Agamemnon is the UK’s newest of seven Astute Class submarines, scheduled to launch at BAE systems in Barrow-in-Furness in 2024. The submarine’s friendship agreement with Sheffield Forgemasters recognises the historic company’s continuing importance within the Royal Navy supply chain and in the delivery of these extremely complex and highly capable machines.
CommandingoOfficer, David ‘Bing’ Crosby, Captain of HMS Agamemnon, said: “It was a privilege to tour the Sheffield Forgemasters site and to see at first hand the incredible work that the company delivers on behalf of the UK’s defence programme.
“We are totally reliant on the impeccable safety requirements and high-end product quality that our suppliers must meet to ensure that our vessels can head out to sea safely, often for considerable periods of time, as we work to provide support to the Country’s Continual At Sea Nuclear Deterrent, a submarine-delivered National endeavour.
“This Bond of Friendship means that we will always be linked with this great Sheffield company. We will share news of each other’s progress and collaborate on various events when we are back in dock.”
HMS Agamemnon has strong Yorkshire connections with its formal affiliation to the City of Wakefield, supporting many regional Mayoral events, and is also affiliated to the Yorkshire University Royal Navy Unit, based in Leeds.
Sheffield Wednesday fan Bing, and many members of his crew, also reside or originate from Sheffield and the Yorkshire region, making football derbies a hot topic of conversation onboard!
Richard Bell, sales and business development director at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “It is a great honour to have signed The Bond of Friendship with HMS Agamemnon and its crew and we look forward to learning much more about the team and their lives at the forefront of our defence strategy.”
The Astute Class submarines are nuclear powered vessels and are capable of spending almost limitless time at sea, only restricted by food rations. These highly capable boats, with a crew of around 120 men and women, produce their own drinking water and oxygen to support their work dived.
They are armed with a mixture of Tomahawk missiles and Spearfish torpedoes and have a suite of innovative sensors to enable the crew to carry out a number of duties on behalf of our national defence.
