Why H.M.S. Trafalgar Ran Aground

As a former naval officer with the 'Royal' Canadian Navy, this surprised me. According to the findings of an inquiry released yesterday, a British nuclear attack submarine crashed, hit the seabed, injuring three crewmen, during a training exercise in November 2002 - causing £5million worth of damage - because its navigators covered their charts with tracing paper in order to protect them from damage.

Submarine commanders Robert Fancy, right, and Ian McGhie, rear left, at their 2004 court martial over the crash

I'm surprised by this because our longstanding naval practice has always been to plot the warships' course directly on the chart itself, and then to erase the pencil tracks afterwards for future reuse. Overlaying tracing paper could indeed obscure vital navigational details, or just be a plain nuisance, as it's difficult enough to see the chart's contours as it is. Constantly plotting track and position, taking visual, radar or satellite fixes, calculating speed through the water based on knots wrung on, strength and direction of current and wind, the busiest guy on the bridge of a ship is the gentleman hovered over the ship's chart. It cannot be overemphasised that navigators, or navigating officers of the watch, need to be able to clearly see what they are doing. The safety of Her Majesty's Ship, to say nothing of a submarine with its added dimension, depends on it. Sheesh, who cares about a few smudge marks on some prestine naval chart - are we that strapped for cash in the Royal Navy, gentlemen? Egad.

The HMS Trafalgar, which ran aground during the exercise in 2002

Incidentally, HMS Trafalgar was the first British submarine to fire Tomohawk missiles in a combat theatre of operation, having successfully hit their targets in Afghanistan following 9/11. But there will be no more flying of the Jolly Roger now. The Trafalgar is set to be decommissioned in 2008.