Navy submarine recruitment crisis forces sailors to spend record-breaking time underwater

Experts have warned that Britain's military recruitment crisis is taking its toll after a Royal Navy submarine clocked up a record time underwater.

In March, the UK's lead Trident sub HMS Vanguard returned to the naval base at Clyde after , where the crew was welcomed by and defence secretary John Healey. The Prime Minister, joining them as they were given their debrief following an extra-long operational tour. But former Navy submariners have now told of the negative impacts of such extended periods at sea, with crew members who have previously served on this type of mission warning that they are given very little connection to the outside - leaving them isolated and worried about their family members.

A limited messaging system means that sailors on board can only receive a message shorter than a standard text once a week - and it's not guaranteed that they will even get that.

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One former officer of 15 years told the Times: "On a Vanguard you don't get emails, you get something called a family gram once or twice a week. We call it the 'happy mast'. They're only allowed to send about 150 characters and it goes to the captain first, who decides if you see it."

The ex-submariner - who recently quit after spending more than 150 days at sea - said news of his cousin's death had been withheld from him until his deployment had finished, while another sailor was not told about the birth of his child.

One rationale often given for keeping bad news from the crew of these vessels - which form a vital role in the UK's nuclear deterrent programme - is the potential risk to national security should it spark a severe emotional response and disrupt their work.

Sailors will typically be given any news relevant to them on an individual basis around two days before the vessel returns to dock.

Longer time spent at sea means more potential anguish for people expecting to hear about their loved ones, or who may naturally worry about their children and partners.

It is only in recent years - amid collapsing numbers of new recruits in the Royal Navy - that patrols approaching 200 days have become normal, with former crew from the 1990s saying they never did any more than half of that figure.

Last year, the Royal Navy only recruited 2,450 out of a target of 4,040 recruits.

It forms part of a broader recruitment and retention crisis across the entire British military, which shed 25,000 personnel during the Tories' 14 years in power from 2010.

Last autumn, John Healey pledged to modernise the application and recruitment process to "unblock the bottlenecks" that prevent new talent entering the forces.

The has contacted the for comment.