US NAVY•CROWN The US nuclear submarine threatened to ram a Spanish customs vessel trying to block its path

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Last week it emerged that a Royal Navy patrol boat fired warning flares across the bow of the Spanish vessel during the altercation just outside Gibraltar waters. It has now been revealed that the Royal Navy’s unprecedented actions were ordered by USS Florida’s no-nonsense captain Nathan Martin who warned the Royal Navy to sort the situation out or he would intervene. It was the first of two such actions by Spanish vessels that day. The second, in British waters, involved a Garda Civil police boat.

The US submarine was making a routine visit to Gibraltar’s submarine base on April 16. It had already surfaced but was still in international waters when its path was intercepted by a Spanish customs vessel. Strict security protocols, partly prompted by the successful Al Qaeda attack on the US destroyer USS Cole in 2000, require the captain of any US warship to prevent uninvited vessels from getting too close to their ship. Despite being escorted by the Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Sabre, the Spanish vessel crossed the submarine’s path several times. Captain Martin was nearing the end of his 77-day operational tour on the submarine when the altercation took place.

CROWN A Royal Navy patrol boat fired warning flares across the bow of the Spanish vessel

GETTY The Royal Navy’s unprecedented actions were ordered by USS Florida’s captain Nathan Martin

There is no question from the report that he would have rammed the Spanish vessel A senior Royal Navy source

Last night a senior Royal Navy source with access to the “After Action” report about the incident, sent to the First Sea Lord and senior operational commanders, said it was a very difficult and tense situation. The source said: “The US commander was very concerned about his vessel and our officer was worried about sparking an international incident, a wrong decision could end your career in a situation like this and spark confrontation. “The US has very strict protocols about vessels getting close to their nuclear submarines, in a very nononsense manner he made it clear he wanted things sorted or he would resolve the incident, and all he could do was ram the boat. “It was a very tense situation. The Spanish had not responded to our transmissions on the emergency channel to steer away and the US commander was not prepared to wait any longer.

CROWN A senior Royal Navy source said it was a very difficult and tense situation