CREWS from the UK’s two newest submarines will take on the people who built their vessels in a charity challenge this weekend.
Sixteen submariners from HMS Agamemnon and Agincourt – the sixth and seventh Astute-class boats which have been built in Barrow over the past quarter of a century – will pound the roads of the Lake District on Saturday, May 11.
They are taking part in the Keswick to Barrow challenge, upholding a tradition going back to the eve of England’s World Cup triumph.
Commander ‘Bing’ Crosby, HMS Agamemnon’s Commanding Officer, said: “The Keswick to Barrow race is a fantastic event which hugely benefits the local community.
“The Barrow area plays an integral role in delivering our newest submarines and I am incredibly pleased that my team are giving back through support to our associated charities.
“I am really hoping that the team bring back the Resolution Cup, which will give us bragging rights over our industrial partner BAE Systems.”
In 1966, US personnel working at the then Vickers shipyard challenged the crew of HMS Resolution, the UK’s first ballistic missile submarine, to walk 50 miles in a single day - a challenge once laid down by US President Teddy Roosevelt to the US Marine Corps.
The submariners accepted the challenge – and the Resolution Cup was born.
In the decades since, the event has become a staple of both the crews and shipwrights at Barrow (now known as BAE), but draws walkers and runners from across the UK with more than 3,000 participants.
In its current form, the event has become a 40-mile event, starting just south of Keswick and finishing at Hawcoat Park in Barrow-in-Furness.
The shipyard workers overwhelmingly enjoy the bragging rights down the years – they’ve lifted the cup four times to every one won by the Royal Navy.
The trophy was last lifted by the Submarine Service in 2022 when HMS Anson’s crew were first to the finish.
She’s long departed the yard, so it falls to the crew of her younger sisters, under construction in the enormous Devonshire Dock Hall which dominates the Barrow skyline, to snatch the cup back from BAE.
The submariners are raising money for associated charities Cardiac Risk In the Young, the Bluebell Foundation, and Military vs Cancer.
You can donate here
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