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According to a source, the schematics for the Royal Navy’s newest nuclear-powered submarine’s torpedo system were discovered laying on the floor inside a pub’s bathroom stall.
The data pertaining to HMS Anson, an Astute-class vessel, were apparently labeled ‘official-sensitive’ – the second level in the UK government’s three-tier classification structure. People in charge of official-sensitive information must follow the ‘need to know’ principle, especially if documents “might be shared outside of a routine or well understood business process,” according to the Ministry of Justice website.
The files were discovered in a pub in the northern English port town of Barrow-in-Furness, according to the newspaper. The facility is not far from the BAE Systems shipyard, where naval warships are manufactured. “It was quite a lively night,” according to the individual who claimed to have seen the documents. “The pub was packed with dock workers, both military and civilian.”
“I went into the restroom, and the plans were on the floor of the cubicle, along with the lanyard… “Anyone could have found them,” said the insider.
According to the documents, the hydraulics of the submarine “control torpedo hatches, steering, and buoyancy.”
The files were “generic training documents,” according to a Navy official, who added that “the circumstances of their discovery” would be probed.
HMS Anson, which joined the fleet last year, is described by the Navy as “the cutting edge of the United Kingdom’s military capabilities” and the “world’s most advanced hunter-killer submarine.” The ship proceeded to Naval Base Clyde in Scotland for sea trials in February.