article_snippet.sent: Last night, defence officials refused to disclose exact details of the crash including where or when the crash happened – but defence officials were adamant that 5,300-ton HMS Talent struck ‘floating ice’ rather than a Russian sub.
article_snippet.sent: After the crash, engineers from HMS Talent’s 130-strong crew found that the impact had devastated the submarine’s outer layer of acoustic tiles.
article_snippet.sent: The Royal Navy’s explanation that HMS Talent struck ice was also used to explain damage to British submarines during the Cold War which was later found to have been caused by enemy vessels.
article_snippet.sent: In 1981, the crew of HMS Sceptre were ordered to say the crew of HMS Sceptre had hit an iceberg after the crew of HMS Sceptre collision with the Russian submarine K-211.
article_snippet.sent: Above, HMS Talent is pictured before the crash off the Egyptian coastline .
article_snippet.sent: A Navy source said: ‘Striking ice is a problem of the environment we work in.
article_snippet.sent: A Navy spokesman said: ‘HMS Talent suffered minor superficial damage after striking some floating ice last year.