Russian submarine collides with British warship's sonar | News

A Russian submarine collided with a British warship’s sonar during a cat-and-mouse game in the North Atlantic, forcing the Royal Navy to abort its mission.

Television footage captures the moment crew onboard HMS Northumberland sound the alarm, shouting “what the hell was that”, “shit”, “what the f*** have I just hit” as the boat crashes into its towed array sonar.

It is believed to be the first time such an incident has been documented and made public.

HMS Northumberland was damaged to such an extent that the ship had to return to port

ALAMY

Towed array sonar uses hundreds of microphones attached to a cable, trailing behind a submarine, or in this particular case, a Type 23 frigate. The technology is designed to detect and track quiet submarines and is positioned hundreds of metres away from the ship.

HMS Northumberland was on