HMNB Clyde, Faslane
A bit too far away for even my longest lens, so no pics, HMNB Clyde at Faslane took delivery of the massive Valiant Jetty this week, manoeuvred to the base by five tugs following its completion at the Inchgreen dry dock in Greenock, almost nine miles away.
The floating jetty will ease the work of the base by allowing up to six Astute class nuclear submarines to berth at the base, without the complications arising from their rise and fall with the tide. The jetty will move with them as the Gare Loch’s three metre tidal range raises and lowers the berthed vessels, and will be constrained by four massive piles at its corners, each said to be as long as Nelson’s column. At each end, a heavy steel “forepeak” provides a mooring for the submarines.
The jetty itself weighs some 44,000 tonnes with concrete walls half a metre thick, containing 12 watertight cells within the 200 metre long reinforced concrete structure, and cost £150 million.
If they don’t move the page again, clicking on the image below will take you to the Royal Navy’s report on Valiant’s arrival, where you can download this, and other images, as desktop wallpaper.
Valiant jetty en route to Faslane
Secret Scotland 