Russian navy's Belogrod nuclear submarine sets sail in 2021
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The news comes as Britain and fellow NATO members step up defence measures against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine 168 days ago. In July, a British Royal Navy ship also tracked and exposed a Russian submarine in a similar fashion.
Pictures of the incident were captured by an un-named photographer who appears to have been a British marine engineer working on an offshore energy site.
Speaking to The Mail, the quick-thinking snapper said: “On Sunday night we saw a British Poseidon P-8 and on Monday we saw all the NATO Navy vessels and the sub itself on the surface.
“We could hear the radio chatter between the ships and the plane and there were definitely British accents.”
There has been a rise in Russian submarine activity since the invasion of Ukraine, in particular in the North Sea which has seen two new NATO members join the alliance.
Furthermore, Russian State TV has repeatedly broadcast thinly veiled threats of a nuclear strike against the UK and the US, one of which involved the use of a nuclear torpedo capable of causing a 500m tall tsunami wave.
The latest stand-off between the Russian submarine and the tracking team came to end when the vessel headed off into the North Sea.
The engineer taking the photos said he believed the NATO team involved in tracking the vessel forced the Russian submarine to the surface having initially discovered it underneath the water.
This was disputed by an expert who said this was unlikely.
Discussing the notion with The Mail, Sidharth Kaushal , Research Fellow (Sea Power) at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) confirmed the vessel was an Akula class nuclear attack submarine.
He said: “I think that’s very unlikely it was forced to the surface, as they can only really do that with depth charges.
“It’s a cat and mouse game between these submarine patrols and the countries they are passing.
“Submarines quite often travel on the surface as it’s safer to navigate that way.
“This one may have been part of the Russian Northern Fleet on its way back from the Navy Day parade in St Petersburg on July 31.”
He continued: “Whatever the Russian submarine was doing there, either simple transit or something more clandestine, the Norwegians would want to shadow it with help from other NATO assets.
“NATO officials have said that Russian submarine activity is at levels that they haven’t seen since the Cold War.
“The Norwegian vessel appears to be a Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate of the Royal Norwegian Navy involved in the operation surrounding this submarine.”
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In July, HMS Portland from the Royal Navy, accompanied by a Poseidon P-8 intercepted another Russian submarine.
Speaking of the success of the operation at the time, HMS Portland’s commanding officer, Commander Tim Leeder, said such operations play a “strategically crucial “role” and added the “cohesiveness of Royal Navy, RAF and our allies’ capabilities” ensured we are capable of conducting and sustaining these types of anti-submarine operations in the North Atlantic.”
The Akula class submarine is a fourth-generation nuclear-powered submarine first deployed by the Soviet Union Navy in 1986.
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Akula is said to mean “shark” in Russian and has been used for varying classes of the type.
The vessel is around 110 meters in length, can weigh up to 13,00 tonnes and can carry a host of weapons and electronic warfare equipment.
The Akula can sail at a depth of up to 600 meters, and uses noise decoys to avoid detection.
It can travel at up to 40 mph when submerged and can sail for up to 100 days prior to resurfacing for supplies.
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