Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

"Moyle" collides with submarine "HMS Renown" off Kintyre

From "The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald" dated 17th October 1969

SUBMARINE AND SHIP COLLIDE

One of Ardrossan Harbour container ships, M.V. "Moyle," was in collision with the Royal Navy's third Polaris submarine "Renown" off the coast of the Mull of Kintyre on Tuesday.
There were no casualties, but the 2800-ton container ship will be out of service for at least two weeks, and the "Renown"s periscope and conning tower were damaged, but not seriously.
After the collision, the "Moyle" docked at Larne, Northern Ireland, and the "Renown" travelled to the nuclear submarine base at Faslane.

An air and sea search by five ships, planes and a helicopter was carried out after the incident, and the "Moyle" also spent several hours searching.

The "Moyle" is now in dry-dock in Belfast, and her replacement on the Ardrossan to Larne run is the "Goodwill Merchant"

Tony Solomons further advises:
The Royal Navy nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine HMS Renown collides with the Irish motor vessel Moyle as it is surfacing during the night in the Mull of Kintyre off the west coast of Scotland. The U.K. Navy Department says damage was slight and at no time was there a risk of a nuclear explosion. There are no casualties. Apparently the Renown was carrying out work-up trials preparatory to going on its first operational cruise in a few weeks,but was not carrying any missiles.