BAE Systems has been responsible for many of the technological breakthroughs of the last hundred years and more. Below is a comparison between HMS Holland, commissioned in 1901 and the Royal Navy's first submarine, and Astute, commisioned in 2006 and build with the very latest technology.
| HMS HOLLAND | Comparisons | ASTUTE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holland 1 was the first submarine commissioned by the Royal Navy, the first in a six-boat batch of the Holland class submarine. She can still be seen at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport. | Description | HMS Astute is the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. Astute was commissioned in 1997 and the vessel is being built at BAE' Systems submarine facility in Barrow-In-Furness. | ||
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122 tonnes submerged | Displacement | 7800 tonnes submerged |  |
| Length | 97 m (323 ft) | |||
| Beam | 11.3 m (37 ft) | |||
| Not available | Draught | 10 m (33 ft) | ||
| 30 m (100 ft) | Depth | Not available | ||
| Not available | Range | 7,000 nautical miles / 13,000 km (at economical speed) | ||
| 6 knotts 11 km/ph | Speed | 29 knots (54 km/h) submerged | ||
| 2 officers and 5 ratings | Complement | 98 officers and men normally, capacity of 109 | ||
| One 18 inch bow torpedo tube (three torpedoes carried) | Armament | Six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 38 Spearfish torpedoes, UGM-84 Harpoon and Tomahawk Block III cruise missiles, naval mines | ||
