Training manual for Britain's world-leading £1.3bn 'hunter killer' nuclear submarine found in Wetherspoons pub toilet
HMS Anson is one of the most advanced nuclear submarines in the world
BAE Systems
The Royal Navy has confirmed a secret training manual for its £1.3 billion “hunter killer” submarine was found in the toilets of a Wetherspoons pub.
Files carrying details about the HMS Anson were left in The Furness Railway in Cumbria.
The documents showed the inner workings of the submarine and were used by submariners learning how to isolate and depressurise elements of its system.
The Royal Navy has said the papers were generic resources and did not contain any classified information.
A source told The Sun the pub was packed when the files, marked “official sensitive”, were discovered on the floor of a cubicle.
Whitehall guidance states information marked “sensitive” must only be shared on “genuine need to know” and could have damaging consequences if lost, stolen or published.
The source said: “It was quite a lively night.“The pub was full of people from the docks — military and civilian.
“I went into the toilet and the plans were lying on the floor of the cubicle with the lanyard.
“Anyone could have found them.“It was lucky it wasn’t some deep cover Russian spy.”
The hunter killer nuclear submarine was commissioned in 2013
Royal Navy
The Furness Railway is a short distance from a BAE systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, where the submarine has previously been pictured.
HMS Anson is the fifth of the new Astute-class attack submarines to join the Royal Navy fleet.
Former sub captain, Commander Ryan Ramsay said: “It looks like someone has taken the pages off the boat to study.
"They are part of a book that cover all the systems on a sub.
"When they do their basic submarine qualification they have to walk round the boat to demonstrate they know all the systems."
The Furness Railway pub, where the files were found in a toilet
JD Wetherspoon
The vessels are capable of firing tomahawk missiles and described as the “largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines” ever used in the Navy on its website.
A naval source said: “These documents enable submariners and contractors to understand how systems interact.
"They do not detail how they work, just that they exist.”
They added that the files only contained simplistic designs of the systems on board, without revealing how they work in any detail.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: “These are generic training documents that carry no classified information.
"However, we take all security matters extremely seriously and will investigate the circumstances of their discovery.”
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