American media reported that a British naval frigate and a Russian submarine were in "close contact," which nearly led to a disaster. The British Ministry of Defense stated that the incident occurred in the North Atlantic at the end of 2020, adding that the British frigate was pursuing an unidentified Russian submarine and struck it with cut-off equipment. British media previously reported that the Royal Navy's "23 Northumberland" frigate was patrolling 300 kilometers off the coast of Scotland at the end of 2020, carrying a filming crew from "Channel 5" documenting the daily life of military sailors.
At one moment, the camera captured the periscope mast and communication antenna of the submarine emerging from under the water. An alarm was raised aboard the British frigate as the unknown submarine was heading parallel to it. A clip showed the frigate commander saying, "If they surface and the crew comes out, we could see their faces in detail." After that, the submarine disappeared underwater. A Merlin anti-submarine helicopter took off into the sky, but did not spot anything. It was later revealed that the submarine had executed a sharp maneuver to evade capture, smashing the cut-off antenna for the frigate's sonar system.
Western authorities typically do not comment on such incidents, but this time, video of the event was captured. The British Ministry of Defense was compelled to acknowledge the incident, which resulted in the frigate returning to port earlier than scheduled. Journalists speculate that the submarine might have also sustained damage from the incident, although the Russian Ministry of Defense has provided no information in this regard.
