HMS Artful (S121): The First of Her Class With the Common Combat System

Constructed at Barrow

HMS Artful was built by BAE Systems Submarine Solutions at Barrow-in-Furness, ordered in March 1997 and formally named in September 2013 before rolling out of the build hall in May 2014.

She completed her first successful basin dive that October, began sea trials in August 2015, was handed over to the Royal Navy that December, and was formally commissioned on 18 March 2016, the third of the Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarines.

A New Combat System

Artful holds the distinction of being the first Astute-class boat to use the Royal Navy's new Common Combat System, an important step in modernising how the class tracks targets and manages its weapons.

Like her sisters, she carries six 21-inch torpedo tubes capable of launching up to 38 weapons, including Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles and Spearfish torpedoes, powered by a Rolls-Royce PWR2 reactor that never needs refuelling across her 25-year service life, and equipped to purify her own air and water, limited chiefly by a three-month food supply for her 98-strong crew.

Sailing With the Carrier Strike Group

In May 2021, Artful joined UK Carrier Strike Group 21 for its landmark seven-and-a-half-month deployment to the Far East, escorting HMS Queen Elizabeth on one of the most significant Royal Navy deployments in a generation, a particularly prestigious posting for a relatively new submarine.

Ongoing Service

As of mid-2024, Artful had entered a period of prolonged inactivity, having last been to sea in early 2023, part of the wider maintenance and availability challenges that have affected several of the Royal Navy's Astute-class boats in recent years.