THE head of the US Navy praised BAE workers on an 'incredible' visit to Barrow shipyard.

Carlos Del Toro, the secretary of the American Navy, toured the shipyard as part of a visit to the UK.

Following the visit, he praised the 'highly-skilled' workers and said knowledge would be shared with their American counterparts as part of the AUKUS submarine programme, a major defence agreement between the UK, US and Australia.

The US Navy said during the visit Mr Del Toro met with the UK Government, Royal Navy and industry leadership to discuss expanding future collaborations and applying best practices to US submarine construction and maintenance. 

He was also updated on the AUKUS program, with UK submarines to be built in Barrow.

A tour of facilities showcased submarine production from hull sections of the future Dreadnought-class to the final stages of construction of the Astute-class. 

The secretary stopped by BAE Submarine Skills Academy and spoke with apprentices pursuing a variety of skilled trades at the shipyard.    

He said: “It was an incredible visit to BAE’s Barrow shipyard, where I saw construction of the Royal Navy’s most advanced submarines by highly skilled technicians and toured their apprentice workshops to develop the next generation of submarine-builders.

“Lessons learned from building these extraordinary ships will pave the way for industry to build the next-generation SSN-AUKUS.”

He also praised the forthcoming University of Cumbria campus being built near the shipyard.

“I was very impressed with the strong partnership displayed between the shipyard, national and local governments to address skilled-workforce challenges in the shipbuilding industrial base that we all face,” said Mr Del Toro.

BAE Systems was awarded a contract to build Australia's nuclear-powered submarines earlier this year as part of joint military programme between the three states.

At the time, BAE said it had increased its UK submarine workforce to 13,500 with plans to grow to around 17,000. 

The first UK submarines built to this design will be delivered in the late 2030s to replace the current Astute Class vessels, and the first Australian submarines will follow in the early 2040s.