Nuclear-Powered Sub : Upside-Down Hull: Costly British Snafu

Embarrassed managers at a company building a nuclear-powered hunter submarine for the British navy have ordered an inquiry into how a large section of the vessel was welded into position upside down.

“I don’t think anyone can remember quite such a blunder,” an unidentified employee of the Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. in the northwestern town of Barrow told the Daily Telegraph.

The Times of London reported that signs saying which end is up are glued to the sections but may have fallen off.

Correcting the mistake to the $446-million Trafalgar-class submarine, named the Triumph, could cost up to $1.86 million, according to at least one news report.

Mike Smith, a spokesman for Vickers, said: “A section has been welded into an incorrect position. An investigation is under way. We don’t envisage there being any impact on the building program or the quality standards.”

Smith refused to say how the mistake occurred but did not think it would jeopardize Vickers’ bid to win an order to build submarines for the Canadian navy.

“This is a very isolated incident and we will be pressing ahead with our bid,” he said. “How much it will cost to put right I don’t know, but ($1.86 million) is ridiculous.”

The Daily Telegraph quoted workers as saying that correcting the position of the cylindrical hull section, measuring 20 feet by 30 feet, will take several weeks. The Triumph is scheduled for completion in 1991.

Nuclear-powered submarines are built in a series of massive rings designed to withstand the huge pressures on the vessel when submerged. Each of the rings is slightly thicker at one side, which means their positioning is crucial.