Royal Navy: 'Sensitive' documents about HMS Anson left inside Wetherspoons pub toilets

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Official documents about a £1.3bn Royal Navy submarine were reportedly left in the toilets of a Wetherspoons pub.

According to The Sun, documents about the ‘hunter killer' 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 sub carries Tomahawk land missiles and Spearfish torpedoes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
The documents were found inside the pub toilets, according to The Sun.The documents were found inside the pub toilets, according to The Sun.
The documents were found inside the pub toilets, according to The Sun.

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.

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.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

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.

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.’

News you can trust since 1877
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice