A History of the Faslane Shiplift

1980 – Decision to replace Polaris with Trident C4

1982 – Decision to order Trident D5 rather than Trident C4

Three options were considered for docking the new submarine at Faslane:

  • Shiplift
  • Floating Dry Dock (there was a floating dock for Polaris but this was not large enough)
  • Dry dock

The MoD opted to build a shiplift for a number of reasons:

  • It was thought to be cheaper, but the actual cost rose from £100 million to £314 million.
  • It didn’t require valuable land which would be needed for a dry dock.
  • It could be used to transfer a submarine onto the shore, but this capability has never been used.
  • Lower personnel costs.
  • Quicker turn around for submarines.[1]

1986 – Chernobyl accident. This resulted in a tightening of nuclear design criteria. Much of the design work for the shiplift was carried out before this and the MoD failed to revise it at an early stage.

1987 - Contracts were issued for the construction of the shiplift with Cementation Construction and for the syncrolift with NEI Clark Chapham. Construction was started before the full nuclear safety case was made.[2]

1988 – A major fault was discovered in the raker piles which are designed to cope with a lateral force on the shiplift. 66% of the piles which were tested were found to be defective. Those that could be reached were replaced. However 82 could not be replaced because they had been covered by the concrete deck of the shiplift. There was a delay of 10 weeks between when the first faulty pile was discovered and when the work of concreting them over was halted. It is assumed that 82, out of a total of 188, of the raker piles are defective.[3]

1990 – Press reports were published showing that the MoD’s safety advisers were concerned that the shiplift would not receive safety clearance in time for the arrival of HMS Vanguard. One concern was that the facility could not meet the seismic criteria for withstanding an earthquake.

1992 – The shiplift should have been available for the Sea Trials of HMS Vanguard in October but did not have safety clearance and so could not have been used, if the need had arisen.

1993 – The shiplift was handed over to the MoD in July and opened by Defence Secretary Malcolm Rifkind in August. The safety case was not yet complete.[4]

1994– An unarmed Trident submarine, HMS Vanguard, was lifted for first time on 24 October.[5]

1995 – A fully armed Trident submarine, HMS Vanguard, was lifted for first time.

1997 – The shiplift was out of operation from October 1997 until March 1998 while modifications were made to platform rails.[6]

1999 – It was reported that safety clearance was issued for specific vessels being lifted rather than having a full-time safety clearance for the shiplift.[7]

2001- Periodic Safety Review completed[8]

2011 - Next Periodic Safety Review due to be completed.[9]

[1] House of Commons Defence Committee Inquiry into the Progress of the Trident Programme,

13 June 1990.

[2] ibid

[3] House of Commons Defence Committee Inquiry into the Progress of the Trident Programme,

19 June 1991

[4] House of Commons Defence Committee Inquiry into the Progress of the Trident Programme,

4 May 1994

[5] Written Answer, Hansard, 23 November 1994.

[6] Written Answer, Hansard, 31 July 1998

[7] MoD comment to Helensburgh Advertiser 29 April 1999

[8] Periodic Review of the Safety Case for the Shiplift at HM Naval Base Clyde, S Ruttledge, Mott MacDonald Ltd, 2001.

[9] ibid