Royal Navy submarine HMS Tireless has suffered minor damage to a ballast tank after she came into contact with a floating object.

Tireless was submerged at the time of the incident, and returned to Clyde Naval Base at Faslane in Scotland for assessment of the damage. She is now on her way to her home port of Devonport where further assessment will take place.

There were no injuries as a result of the incident, and all the boat’s systems remained functional. There were no nuclear safety implications.

A Board of Inquiry will be held to look into the case – a routine procedure in such instances – when the facts of the incident will be established. The findings of Boards of Inquiry are not normally made public.

Free-floating objects at sea, including large timbers, logs, trees and commercial containers lost overboard from ships, create potential hazards for shipping, as they can be encountered on the surface or just below.

Ministry of Defence sources stated that no other surface vessel or submarine was in the vicinity of Tireless at the time of the incident.