The Diplomat
The US nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarine USS Rhode Island arrived in Gibraltar yesterday, just a month after the USS Florida did, prompting complaints from the Spanish government.
The USS Rhode Island (SSBN-740) is an Ohio class submarine, equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles that can carry thermonuclear warheads. Its arrival in Gibraltar’s port was escorted by two Royal Navy patrol boats.
The last US nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine to arrive in Gibraltar was the USS Alaska (SSBN-732), which did so in June last year, although other nuclear-powered submarines carrying cruise missiles have subsequently arrived in Gibraltar.
In a note issued by the US Navy, it is stated that the USS Rhode Island arrived in Gibraltar for a scheduled visit, and that it is “a brief stop in the area of operations of the United States Naval Forces in Europe”.
According to Captain John Craddock, commander of Task Force 69, which consists of attack submarines and guided missile submarines, the Rhode Island’s visit to Gibraltar reinforces the “strong commitment” to US allies and partners in the region. “The United States and the United Kingdom,” he added, “share a strong history of cooperation, through exercises, operations and cooperative activities such as this, which enhance our combined capabilities and partnership.
The arrival of this type of submarine in Gibraltar provokes protests from the Spanish authorities to the United States, as happened after the USS Florida’s stopover from 28 September to 2 October. Although the Spanish government does not usually raise its voice much, it does reiterate to the United States that it does not like submarines going to Gibraltar, when it has the Rota naval base, located a few miles from the Rock, at its disposal.
The previous Spanish protest had been on 13 April, on that occasion in the form of a note verbale of protest. Spain’s complaints have fallen on deaf ears, as the arrival of another nuclear-powered submarine proves.
Yesterday, Verdemar-Ecologists in Action once again warned of the arrival of a nuclear submarine, which, in their opinion, “endangers the populations of the Campo de Gibraltar and the Strait of Gibraltar”. The environmental group said in a statement that the docking should have led to the activation of the Nuclear Emergency Plan and the Navy’s Environmental Radiological Surveillance Groups (Grova) due to the risk it poses to the population.
The ecologists, who describe these ships as “floating bombs”, claim that, since the ‘HMS Tireless’ was repaired in 2000-2001, “more than 100 submarines have passed and many of them with problems”, recalling the British Royal Navy nuclear submarine ‘HMS Ambush’, which collided in 2016 with a merchant ship in the Alboran Sea, during training exercises.
