The 2076 sonar suite has the processing power of 2,000 laptop computers.

Astute can compact and store onboard all the food waste and garbage arising from an extended patrol for eventual disposal on arrival back in harbour.

The Devonshire Dock Hall was designed to hold four vessel hulls simultaneously and two in build.

The ship lift at Barrow can raise or lower ships or submarines weighing 23,400 tonnes.

Giant modules, allowing extensive offboat outfit, are shipped into the pressure hull with millimetres of clearance.

Astute is able to carry more torpedoes and tube launched missiles than any previous class of Royal Navy submarine – nuclear or conventional powered.

The Astute submarine will be the quietest ever operated by the Royal Navy.

Britain is one of only five nations in the world capable of building nuclear powered submarines, and Barrow is the only designated nuclear submarine build yard in the UK.

Astute is faster underwater than on the surface.

If it wasn’t for the necessity of food, Astute would never need to surface.

Barrow-built submarines have been operated by 17 navies around the globe.

Design and construction of Astute has been described as more complex than that of the space shuttle.

Astute is the first Royal Navy Submarine not to be fitted with optical periscopes – instead the vessel employs high specification video technology.

ASTUTE’s nuclear power plant is more complex than a power station.

Astute is one of the first nuclear submarines to be designed entirely in a three-dimensional, computer-aided environment.

If the cables were laid out end-to-end, they would stretch from Barrow to Preston.

Clad in high-density rubber tiles, noise and vibration suppression techniques are used to maintain the submarine’s stealth.

A variety of food is taken on board Astute, from everyday fresh and frozen food to tins of beans and bottles of sauce.

Astute is designed not to require refuelling throughout her projected 25-year life.

Barrow-built HMS Dreadnought was Britain’s first nuclear powered submarine and also the first to surface through the ice at the North Pole.

Astute’s 90-day dived endurance is only limited by the amount of food that can be carried and the endurance of the crew.

It has over one million components, including 100km of cabling and 23,000 pipes, stretching 10km.

In addition to its core strategic suppliers, the ASTUTE programme has been supported by several hundred suppliers from across the UK.

Astute is the UK’s largest and most powerful attack submarine.

Astute is able to circumnavigate the world without surfacing.

ASTUTE weighs 7,400 tonnes, which is the equivalent of 459 empty dustbin lorries.

When fully stored Astute will displace 7,400 tonnes of sea water, equivalent to 925 unladen London buses.

Astute is the UK’s largest and most powerful attack submarine and can strike at targets up to 1,000km from the coast with pin-point accuracy.

Astute can strike at targets up to 1,000 km from the coast with pin-point accuracy. That distance is equivalent to driving from London to Paris and back – twice.

The Devonshire Dock Hall is BAE Systems Submarine Solutions’ main build facility, standing 51m high, 58m wide and 260m long.

A team of five Royal Navy chefs (1x Petty Officer Caterer, 1x Leading Chef and 3x Chefs) provide 24-hour service to the ship’s company.

The first submarine for the Royal Navy was built in Barrow, and every submarine currently in service was also built there.

The pressure hull is a 97 metre long cylinder which when submerged must withstand pressure equivalent to 400 family saloon cars weighing down on every square metre of surface area.

Astute was lowered into the dock using a shiplift, which at the time of its construction was the largest in the world.

Barrow holds the record for the heaviest load moved on a British road – the complete hull stern block of the Amphibious Assault Ship Bulwark (2,832 tonnes).

On a 10-week patrol the 98-strong crew of a Astute will get through (on average): 18,000 sausages and 4,200 Weetabix for breakfast.

Astute has individual bunks for the whole crew and 11 extra bunks for ‘passengers’ and ‘sea riders’.