WMD II - Yellow Submarine

And people think Islay is a quiet place. If it’s not the CIA spying via the ether then it must be the MOD spooks snooping about under water.

We have had whales, ships, even mines washed up on our shores - and now this: Baker, fishing 3 miles off the Mull of Oa (5 miles from Bruichladdich) discovered a bright yellow object floating beneath the surface. At first thinking it was a drum, he was shocked to discover it was a Ministry of Defence mini submarine - bristling with hi-tech surveillance equipment.

Having towed the ROV to port, the submarine was hoisted out of the water for safe keeping, and dutifully the authorities were alerted.

Then things became more strange. A bizarre series of conflicting messages were exchanged with the MOD via a third party: Firstly, the MOD denied it was theirs – even though it had MOD identification on it. Secondly they denied that the vessel was missing – even though it was physically ashore on Islay. Then the MOD stated it was impossible to have found it were the fisherman claimed they had – implying they had stolen it. And finally the MOD claimed to have reported the loss to the Coastguard ten days earlier – but no local coastguard members could confirm this.

For ten days this state-of-the-art piece of kit was floating about in a busy water way, in perfect weather conditions, and the might of The Royal Navy was unable to find it.

To date, the MOD has made no contact with the fishermen, or any attempt to reclaim the vessel falsely claiming it is being held to ransom. The question of salvage has of course now arisen when in reality the lads would probably have been perfectly happy with a thank-you-very-much and £300 for a few beers in the first place.

What was it doing that was so secret? Apparently WWII mine clearing.

And of course it had to be yellow - bright yellow.

The errant submarine on board HMS Blyth in Oban (June 2006)  photos thanks to A. Körber

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