HMS Astute is an operational nuclear-powered attack submarine in the Royal Navy, the lead boat of her class.

[9] Astute has stowage for 38 weapons and was expected to typically carry both Spearfish heavy torpedoes and Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles,[1] the latter costing £870,000 each.

[13] Her builders BAE Systems described her as "the largest and most able attack submarine that the Royal Navy has operated, with a performance to rival any in the world".

[21] The captain of the vessel elected to wait for tugboat assistance rather than using the submarine's own power to clear the stern from the obstruction, to minimise damage to the hull's anechoic tiles.

[23] The Maritime and Coastguard Agency-chartered emergency tow vessel Anglian Prince was dispatched to the scene from Stornoway.

[25] A service inquiry concluded that the main cause of the grounding was not following navigation procedures combined with the watch officer not appreciating the proximity of danger.

[28] Astute had to return to port for repairs on 11 December 2010, on her first day back at sea after the grounding incident, due to a problem with her steam plant.

During a changeover of armed guards, 22-year old Able Seaman Ryan Donovan opened fire with an SA80 assault rifle in the submarine's control room, hitting two officers before being overpowered by Southampton Council's leader Royston Smith (a former RAF flight engineer), and chief executive Alistair Neill.

[43] Starting in late 2011, she began a 5-month stay at the US Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas, in which she fired Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk missiles.

[46] In February 2012, Astute rendezvoused with the Virginia-class submarine USS New Mexico underwater in the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center for a series of war games.

[50] In November 2012 The Guardian reported that there had been a serious leak that caused an emergency surfacing because a cap for a pipe was made of the wrong metal, even though the inventory claimed proper checks had been made, that there were problems with reactor monitoring instruments because the wrong grade of lead was used, and circuit boards had not been correctly fitted.

[53] In November 2018, Astute took part in anti-submarine warfare exercises alongside Type 23 frigate HMS St Albans in an undisclosed Scottish loch.