Royal Navy: Eerie nuclear siren blares from HMNB Portsmouth on cold morning - when and why
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Members of the public looked up from their daily tasks to see what was happening
An eerie nuclear siren sounded from Portsmouth Naval Base this morning.
The wartime two-tone siren was set off at exactly 9.30am on October 28. A safety notice was made to let members of the public and naval base employees know what was happening.
The alarm has known to be heard throughout parts of Portsmouth. It blared for just over one minute.
Statutory tests of the Royal Navy’s nuclear accident response plan for the naval base have to ben performed on a regular basis, mandated by local authorities. Routine and regular procedures, outlined by Portsmouth City Council and Gosport Borough Council, state that the siren is sounded three times a year.
This is carried out each year on the last Wednesday of February, June and October. In a previous social media statement, officials at HMNB Portsmouth said: “Please note there will be a full test of the Naval Base’s nuclear emergency alerting siren at 0930 today which may be able to be heard outside of the base.
“It is a statutory requirement to test the alarm three times a year and this test is being conducted in agreement with Portsmouth and Gosport local authorities. The two-tone siren will be sounded for one minute for the test.”