Faslane
Faslane Naval Base, officially HMS Neptune, is a Royal Navy base situated on Gare Loch, which connects to the River Clyde in Scotland. The base serves as home base to the UK's fleet of Trident nuclear armed submarines, as well as conventional nuclear submarines. Nearby on Loch Long, Coulport naval base acts as the storage facility for Trident.
Faslane was first constructed used as a base in World War II. During the 1960s, the United Kingdom began negotiations with the United States of America regarding the purchase of a Polaris nuclear missile system to be fired from 5 specially constructed submarines. In the end, only four were constructed:
These four submarines were permanently based at Faslane. One boat was always on patrol at any given time. In times of political instability, sometimes two boats would be deployed at sea. In the 1980s, the British Government announced plans to replace the Polaris submarines with the newly developed Trident missile system, also to be based at Faslane. These submarines were named:
Given the presence of these nuclear capable missiles, Faslane has attracted demonstartions by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and other Scottish pressure groups, including Trident Ploughshares. A permanent peace camp is outside the base gates, and there are frequent demonstrations at the base gates. The presence of Faslane is also a political question for Scottish Political Parties. Both the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Socialist Party oppose the Faslane base. It is not unusal for their members to be attending rallies outside Faslane, or even arrested.
Faslane is also home to the Royal Navy's other classes of submarine, including the fleet of hunter-killer submarines: the Trafalgar class; and the Swiftsure class. The Royal Navy has announced that the Astute-class SSN will also be based at Faslane.
