Nuclear sub blueprint found in charity shop
SECRET plans of one of Britain’s most fearsome deterrents against the Soviet threat have been unearthed in a Gwynedd charity shop.
The cut-away of a £200m Trafalgar class nuclear submarine would have made a worthy prize for any Russian secret agent during the Cold War.
But picking up a copy of the map will no longer require a John Le Carré style plot or James Bond inspired mission – it is being sold at a Barnardo’s store.
Stella Parker, who works at the Porthmadog shop, said she discovered the plans while going through a suitcase full of old books which had been donated.
She said: “All the lining of the suitcase was ripped, as I went through the case I noticed this paper behind the lining. When I took it out I could see it was plans of a submarine.
“At first I thought it was the technical drawings because they looked like blueprints.”
Mrs Parker took the map - which measures approximately 6ft by 3ft – to David Dickinson when the celebrity antiques dealer was filming his Real Deal television show in nearby Penygroes.
He made an offer – suggesting it might be worth between £30 and £40 – but she turned him down, hoping to get more for the children’s charity at an auction.
She said: “He told me it was the map used by the men to help find themselves around the sub. If they had been the real blueprints they would have been worth a lot more.”
Unfortunately she never got around to taking it to auction and the super-sized poster stayed in a backroom of the shop because they were too big to display.
Speaking to the Daily Post she said: “Doing some research online, I think they are the plans to HMS Trafalgar, which was the only submarine in the Trafalgar-class to have a bladded propeller.”
The submarine, which was launched in 1981, served in the Afghanistan War and became the first Royal Navy submarine to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles against Taliban forces.
In 1996 the sub gained notoriety after running aground off the Isle of Skye during a training exercise – causing £5m worth of damage – the second time it had suffered a mishap. The sub was finally decommissioned in 2009 and the plans – which appear to have belonged to engineer WG Clouter, a public relations manager for shipbuilders Vickers – have since been declassified.
Offers for the plans are being taken from Monday, March 13. You can either visit the Barnardo’s shop on the High Street, Porthmadog, in person or call 01766 513167 for more information.
Mrs Parker said: “I hope there will be a lot of interest from any old submariners or anyone who will give it a good home.”