“She’s a submarine – but boy is she different!” That is the verdict of Commander Iain Breckenridge, the Commanding Officer of first-of-class submarine HMS Astute, after sea trials that included an unbroken 46-day period at sea.

Commander Breckenridge believes that HMS Astute has already demonstrated exceptional capability, and is confident there is more to come.

He said: “I have done things in this submarine I have never done in any other submarine – the autopilot is fantastic, the optronics system is superb and the secondary propulsion and hover systems enable manoeuvres you can’t do in any other UK sub.

“And her latent capability – it is frustrating that you have to follow the trials order, but you can see that the boat could do a lot more.”

Commander Breckenridge believes that 46-day period at sea was HMS Astute’s most important achievement to date. He said: “That period served as a massive mindset change – not only for the Ship’s Company but all stakeholders.

“It demonstrated that the boat is capable of staying at sea for a long time, we are capable of maintaining her at sea, and stores people are capable of giving us what we need on time to keep her at sea.

“The wider community has woken up to the fact that we have got a boat here that can run, and that is a really positive message.”

He added: “I was hugely proud of the Ship’s Company, and what they managed to achieve, and very impressed with the feedback we have been getting on the boat, that many of the trials results are the best ever.”

Commander Breckenridge took over command of HMS Astute last November, after 36 years in the Royal Navy – most of that on submarines, including command of HMS Tireless and a two-year stint in the US, “riding” US submarines.

During his command of HMS Tireless Commander Breckenridge came up against the exceptional capability of the Sonar 2076 suite when his boat’s Sonar 2074 was pitted against one of the updated Trafalgar class submarines.

He said: “No matter how hard we tried 2076 beat us – which is entirely correct. Now we have got 2076 on the boat it was designed for and you can see just how good it is. I am looking forward to taking her out and operating against submarines.”

He believes that success in the sea trials is the result of “getting good people together, good preparation, and everyone working well together”.

It has entailed a major adjustment as HMS Astute is the first boat on which these trials have been conducted by industry, led by prime contractor BAE Systems, but Commander Breckenridge believes that honest and open discussion has enabled the teamwork that is vital to success.

The recent successful firing of four Spearfish torpedoes was a perfect example. “It was the first time we have had Flag Officer Sea Training staff supporting BAE Systems weapons testing in a virtually live firing and they went extremely well.”

He is very much looking forward to HMS Astute’s deployment to the US for deep water trials, during which she will conduct further torpedo firings as part of a final comprehensive test of combined combat system effectiveness.