BBC News
By Michael Dempsey
image captionThe naming ceremony of HMS Anson in Barrow-in-Furness
On 20 April, the Royal Navy s latest nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine, HMS Anson, emerged from a vast construction hall at Barrow-in-Furness, travelled down a slipway and entered the water. All 7,400 tonnes of it.
Around 260 miles away in Plymouth, another submarine made its debut that same day. A minnow compared to HMS Anson, this secretive nine-tonne craft may have greater implications for the future of the navy than the £1.3bn nuclear boat.
MSubs of Plymouth, a specialist in autonomous underwater vehicles, won a £2.5m Ministry of Defence contract to build and test an Extra-Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) that should be able to operate up to 3,000 miles from home for three months.
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On its journey, the vessel, covered in solar panels, will study marine pollution and analyse plastic in the water, as well as track aquatic mammals
The Mayflower 400 , the world s first intelligent ship, bobs gently in a light swell as it stops its engines in Plymouth Sound, off England s southwest coast, before self-activating a hydrophone designed to listen to whales.
The 50-foot (15-metre) trimaran, which weighs nine tonnes and navigates with complete autonomy, is preparing for a transatlantic voyage.
On its journey, the vessel, covered in solar panels, will study marine pollution and analyse plastic in the water, as well as track aquatic mammals.
Tuesday, 4 May, 2021 - 04:45
The Mayflower 400 autonomous trimaran during sea trials in Plymouth this week BEN STANSALL AFP Plymouth - Asharq Al-Awsat
The Mayflower 400 - the world s first intelligent ship - bobs gently in a light swell as it stops its engines in Plymouth Sound, off England s south-west coast, before self-activating a hydrophone designed to listen to whales.
The 15 m-long trimarans, which weighs nine tons and navigates with complete autonomy, is preparing for a transatlantic voyage. On its journey, the vessel - covered in solar panels - will study marine pollution and analyze plastic in the water, as well as track aquatic mammals.
First autonomous ship readies for maiden trip
AFP, PLYMOUTH, England
The
Mayflower 400 the world’s first intelligent ship bobs gently in a light swell as it stops its engines in Plymouth Sound, off England’s southwest coast, before self-activating a hydrophone designed to listen to whales.
The 15m trimaran, which weighs nine tonnes and navigates with complete autonomy, is preparing for a transatlantic voyage.
On its journey the vessel, covered in solar panels, is to study marine pollution and analyze plastic in the water, as well as track aquatic mammals.
Meirwen Jenking-Rees, a student engineer, catches a rope following a sea trial of the