Inspection of a Trident submarine
Petter Joelson | 19.11.2002 00:06
At 11pm Friday 15th November, me and Elisa from Trident Ploughshares got into a nuclear submarine in Devonport, England. We set off the fire alarm on the submarine and told the workers and security staff about the illegality of the Trident submarines under international law.
Trident Ploughshares is since 1998 fighting the British nuclear weapons with nonviolent direct action. Britain has got four Trident nuclear submarines with a capacity of more than 1000 Hiroshima bombs. In March this year, the British minister of defence, George Hoon threatened to use nuclear weapons against Iraq.
One of these submarines, called Vanguard, is currently being fixed and fuelled with radioactive material at the Devonport dockyard in the south west of England.
Trident Ploughshares have had a disarmament cammp in Devonport the 14th-19th November. By inspections, blockades and other actions, we have been trying to stop the Vanguard from further use.
The British government has been one of the loudest voices for an attack against Iraq if they don't grant access for the UN weapons inspectors. At the same time the government is ignoring the advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice from 1996, saying that the possession or threat to use nuclear arms is generally illegal.
Elisa and I decided to inspect the facilities for weapons of mass destruction in the Devonport Dockyard. At Friday evening at 9.30 we went from the Trident Ploughshares campsite to the Dockyard. After some time of walking through itching bushes outside the fence, we found a good spot to climb it. We put some thick plastic that we found on top of the sharp edges of it and then managed to get over. It was a walk of about 300 meters to the Trident dock, and we passed a tennis court, some houses and docks for other ships. No guards or polices were in sight and the few people, walking or in cars, that we passed didn't seem to take any notice about us.
My mouth was dry and my legs soft like spaghetti when we reached the final fence, just outside "Vanguard". There it was, the submarine that can wipe out whole cities with a single strike. It was covered with construction works and white plastic and was huge. We made a small door in the fence with our bolt cutters we had brought and went on towards the submarine. There were still no guards visible so we went on board. At this stage we were not really sure about what to do. After we had been inside of it and seen the holes on the outside were they fire the missiles, we decided to press an alarm button. The first alarm button we found didn't work, so we went to the other side of the submarine and found two fire alarm buttons. We pressed the first one (this was at 11.30 according to the police, and we had probably been on and inside of the sub for 20 minutes). Nothing happened in a couple of minutes, so we pressed the other one too. Then lots of workers, maybe 10-20 came up from the lower parts of the submarine, just were we were standing. We explained to them that we were from Trident Ploughshares and that the submarine is illegal, but they seemed to be more keen on having a break than to discuss legal matters with us. So they went to a nearby building. After another couple of minutes security staff turned up and showed us the way to the office just next to the sub. The walls in there were covered with electrical diagrams of the missile system and other things I didn't understand. The staff offered us tea and coffee and we were chatting for a while until the police turned up and arrested us at 11.55.
No one saw us getting in, but the police confiscated out two pairs of bolt cutters and "Nuclear Weapons for Beginners" - a guide Elisa had brought, as evidence.
On 16th of December, the local court in Plymouth will set a date for our trial.
elisa.silvennoinen@joensuu.fi
petterjoelson@yahoo.se
http://sweden.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=32989&group=webcast
One of these submarines, called Vanguard, is currently being fixed and fuelled with radioactive material at the Devonport dockyard in the south west of England.
Trident Ploughshares have had a disarmament cammp in Devonport the 14th-19th November. By inspections, blockades and other actions, we have been trying to stop the Vanguard from further use.
The British government has been one of the loudest voices for an attack against Iraq if they don't grant access for the UN weapons inspectors. At the same time the government is ignoring the advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice from 1996, saying that the possession or threat to use nuclear arms is generally illegal.
Elisa and I decided to inspect the facilities for weapons of mass destruction in the Devonport Dockyard. At Friday evening at 9.30 we went from the Trident Ploughshares campsite to the Dockyard. After some time of walking through itching bushes outside the fence, we found a good spot to climb it. We put some thick plastic that we found on top of the sharp edges of it and then managed to get over. It was a walk of about 300 meters to the Trident dock, and we passed a tennis court, some houses and docks for other ships. No guards or polices were in sight and the few people, walking or in cars, that we passed didn't seem to take any notice about us.
My mouth was dry and my legs soft like spaghetti when we reached the final fence, just outside "Vanguard". There it was, the submarine that can wipe out whole cities with a single strike. It was covered with construction works and white plastic and was huge. We made a small door in the fence with our bolt cutters we had brought and went on towards the submarine. There were still no guards visible so we went on board. At this stage we were not really sure about what to do. After we had been inside of it and seen the holes on the outside were they fire the missiles, we decided to press an alarm button. The first alarm button we found didn't work, so we went to the other side of the submarine and found two fire alarm buttons. We pressed the first one (this was at 11.30 according to the police, and we had probably been on and inside of the sub for 20 minutes). Nothing happened in a couple of minutes, so we pressed the other one too. Then lots of workers, maybe 10-20 came up from the lower parts of the submarine, just were we were standing. We explained to them that we were from Trident Ploughshares and that the submarine is illegal, but they seemed to be more keen on having a break than to discuss legal matters with us. So they went to a nearby building. After another couple of minutes security staff turned up and showed us the way to the office just next to the sub. The walls in there were covered with electrical diagrams of the missile system and other things I didn't understand. The staff offered us tea and coffee and we were chatting for a while until the police turned up and arrested us at 11.55.
No one saw us getting in, but the police confiscated out two pairs of bolt cutters and "Nuclear Weapons for Beginners" - a guide Elisa had brought, as evidence.
On 16th of December, the local court in Plymouth will set a date for our trial.
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Petter Joelson
e-mail:
petterjoelson@yahoo.se
Homepage:
www.tridentploughshares.org
Comments
Hide the following 7 comments
fantastic ...
19.11.2002 10:18
I love you all unconditionally.
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
Ace! You have shown them up big style.
19.11.2002 13:59
dave
Weapons Inspection Of USAF Fairford: 14th Dec
19.11.2002 17:25
THIS MAY BE OUR LAST OPPORTUNITY TO UNDERLINE PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO THIS WAR. PLEASE COME ALONG, START SPREADING THE WORD, & BOOK YOUR COACHES NOW.
************************
WE ALREADY HAVE AT LEAST 5 TOWNS & CITIES INVOLVED
For additional comment:
DEMONSTRATE: Sat 14th Dec. 12.00noon. Fairford. Gloucester.
(Along the A417 east to west. Or the A361 north to south.
FAIRFORD AIRFBAISE IS 10 MINS WALK FROM FAIRFORD VILLAGE
*****************************
The Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors are coming:
This is a peaceful demo, but we will be encouraging protesters to surround the base in a show of strength.
BRISTOL COACH TICKETS: £10 waged / £4 unwaged
AVAILABLE FROM: Greenleaf Books. 82 Colston St. BS1 5BB
(Top Of Christmas Steps. City Centre)
COACHES LEAVE: 10:00am Anchor Rd. Sat 14th Dec.
(Behind The Watershed Complex. City Centre)
DIRECTIONS: CLICK BELOW
Bristol-Stop-The-War
e-mail:
james@venables.plus.com
Homepage:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristol-stop-the-war-coalition
I feel Safer Now
20.11.2002 00:12
Billions for nukes and not one damn thought to....
Well, years ago an American Navy Seal, Richard Marchinko was told to probe the security of an east coast sub pen. It was an announced drill. Early in the still nite hours they swam down the waterway, came aboard and waited. The commander knew something was wrong when he felt the steel handgun at his temple.
The Navy was VERY mad. At Richard, for "cheating."
Still the same. I hope he gets an ear of this.
P.S. this is why we need some security that works. Like friendly relations with a large portion of our fellow earthlings as a start. You can stop all of the terrorists some of the time, and some of the terrorists all of the time.
But you can't stop all the terrorists all of the time.
And I admit, I still don't feel safer yet, Mr Bush and Friends.
a3m
Good but...
26.11.2002 07:38
Omni
Heroes
26.11.2002 08:35
Steps to Freedom
good, but could've been better
28.11.2002 17:57
You should search the submarine and bring a camera to document any weapons you find. Take plenty a roll of pictures and then swallow the film so that it is not confiscated (or something like that). Next you should go to the control room, power her up, and take her away to a neighboring port where activists are ready and waiting with the dismantling tools.
First all you need to do is learn how to drive a sub.
timuck