A MAJOR milestone in the construction of one of the Royal Navy’s latest submarines has been reached by BAE Systems.

The forward dome section of the seventh and final Astute class boat, Agincourt, followed a well-worn route in Barrow as it was transported along a public road, from BAE Systems’ fabrication facility to its iconic Devonshire Dock Hall, where the whole submarine will eventually be assembled.

Over the decades, views like this have been a familiar part of the town’s proud submarine building heritage.

Since 1901 when Holland 1, the Royal Navy’s first submarine was proudly unveiled, there has been a regular procession of ships and submarines of varying shapes and sizes launched from Barrow.

In 1960 the UK’s first nuclear submarine HMS Dreadnought was built in the town and nearly 60 years on, work on the class sharing the same name is now well underway.

From welders and caulkers to steelworkers and fabricators; drillers and electricians to pipe fabricators, the skills involved in delivering the latest Astute unit are varied, with around 328 people in total having worked on this single section alone.

In May 2018 the MOD awarded BAE Systems a £1.5bn contract for the delivery of Agincourt.

Astute submarines, each with a crew of 98 and measuring 97 metres long, are the first Royal Navy submarines to be fitted with high specification video technology instead of a traditional optical periscope.

The boat will be the sixth vessel in Royal Navy history to be named after the Battle of Agincourt, of 1415.