ARCHIVED - British nuclear submarine in Gibraltar provokes protests

The HMS Tireless was the subject of two acrimonious incidents in 2004 and 2001

HMS Tireless, a British nuclear submarine, has docked at the naval base of Gibraltar for the first time since 2004, sparking protest from Ecological groups, reminiscent of the tensions caused by her year long stay in Gibraltar between 2000 and 2001 due to an emergency technical repair.

The S88 HMS Tireless is a Trafalgar class submarine, and is due to be decommissioned in the near future. The sub was launched in March 1984 and was formally commissioned in October 1985. For the following six years she took part in numerous exercises and sailed around the globe, even visiting the Arctic in 1991. A complete refit began in 1996 and she remained out of active service until 1999.

On 12th May 2000 Tireless suffered a cooling fluid leak in her nuclear reactor primary cooling unit. The nuclear propulsion system was deactivated and the vessel headed to the nearest port of Gibraltar for what were expected to be minor repairs to the cooling pipes, but the problem turned out to be more serious than had originally been thought and it was not until 2nd May 2001 that she eventually set sail again.
All Trafalgar class submarines were thoroughly checked out immediately following the incident.

Local ecological groups, the Junta de Andalucía ( the regional government on mainland Spain) the Spanish government and residents near to the rock made a number of protests against the presence of the sub during her in-dock time and the situation was used as a propaganda tool by those campaigning to return Gibraltar to Spanish control.

Initially the Spanish government accepted the explanations of the British Government that this was an emergency case, but as the weeks stretched into months the Spanish Government, lead at this point by Aznar, became more vocal in their protests, claiming that the nuclear submarine represented a safety threat for the 200,000 odd residents who live in the “Campo de Gibraltar”, the mainland areas close to the rock. In December Aznar said publicly that “The most desirable situation is that the submarine be transferred to the UK, “ a comment which provoked a tense diplomatic situation between Aznar and UK premier, Tony Blair.

Protests escalated, with Greenpeace managing to hang an anti-nuclear poster on the sub, and a major dem in January 2001, attended by 60,000 people, headed up by Manuel Chaves, president of the  Junta de Andalucía, along with the local mayors of  Algeciras and La Línea. The whole situation caused great political tension within Spain, as Aznar and the PP accused the socialist opposition of paying for minibuses to ferry in protestors and create more tension, an accusation which lead to the protest being nicknamed the “bus and sandwich protest, ” the (protesta «de autobús y bocadillo») a reference to the practice of feeding and transporting protestors as a means of political manipulation.

Socialist leader Zapatero became involved, personally writing to Tony Blair to request the removal of the sub, and the PP claimed that other subs had been moored in the Gibraltar port during the term of office of Felipe González. The whole situation concluded in the European Court of Justice, which concluded in 2006 that the repair work undertaken to the Tireless had been perfectly legal and the British government was within its rights to take the vessel to Gibraltar for emergency repairs.

In 2004 the HMS Tireless again caused Spanish hackles to rise when she docked in Gibraltar between the 9th and 15th July for “technical reasons. “ The British government were accused of timing the port of call to co-incide with the 300th anniversary of the capture of Gibraltar on 21st July 1704, a charge denied by the British Government.

This time round the situation is rather less tense, although it has to be said that the presence of the nuclear powered vessel is not exactly popular with the political authorities and the local land-based residents, coming just a couple of days after the 300th anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, which formally ceded Gibraltar to the British. Ecologists have already published complaints in the Spanish mainstream media, calling the visit “a provocation on the part of the British government which will increase the scale of tensions in the area. “

Just a few days ago, they issued similar complaints when the HMS Talent, another submarine, also stopped off at Gibraltar for provisions, just before the 300th anniversary celebrations.

The HMS Tireless arrived early on Monday morning and will remain in port for just a few days, as part of a previously programmed operation, according to the MOD, before leaving the British colony.

Image: HMS Tireless at the North Pole, U.S. Navy photo by Chief Journalist Kevin Elliott.