'Official sensitive' inner system of UK submarine found in pub toilet
A naval official says the documents detail how systems of the submarine interact and are meant for training submariners and contractors.
British Royal Navy will conduct an investigation after "official sensitive" documents on one of its nuclear-powered attacker submarines were found in a pub toilet located in the Furness Railway in Cumbria, The Sun reported.
The discovered files included the inner workings of the UK's 1.3 billion pounds HMS Anson, dubbed "hunter killer", an Astute class submarine specifically designed to target and sink other submarines, surface combatants, and cargo vessels and are equipped with Tomahawk missiles and Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes.
Read more: US, UK to compete over sale of nuclear submarines to Australia
The Navy's website describes the underwater attack vessel as the “largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines" ever to have been used.
“These are generic training documents that carry no classified information. However, we take all security matters extremely seriously and will investigate the circumstances of their discovery,” a Royal Navy spokesperson stated.
Citing sources, the media outlet said the pub was fully packed when the "official sensitive" files were discovered on the toilet floor.
The Furness Railway is a short distance from a BAE systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.
“These documents enable submariners and contractors to understand how systems interact. They do not detail how they work, just that they exist,” PA reported, according to an unnamed naval official.
Read more: Australia to deploy nuclear-powered submarines far from mainland