NATIONAL praise has been given to shipyard staff for their brilliant work on HMS Audacious.

The boat set off from Barrow to her new home at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde back in April.

She was sent from BAE Systems, joining HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful, to prepare for sea trials before entering operational service with the Royal Navy.

Ian Booth, SDA Chief Executive of the Submarine Delivery Agency, said: “The delivery of our incredibly complex submarine programmes depends on the extremely skilled submarine workforce and close collaboration with our industrial partners across the supply chain to deliver a first-class product for the Royal Navy.”Among the most technologically advanced submarines operating in the world today, the departure of HMS Audacious marked a significant milestone in the Astute programme, which is providing seven new attack submarines for the Royal Navy and the capability it needs to defend UK interests.