Changing the name of the navy's submarine is pointless, says Shapps.
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Ministry of Defence A 2009 photograph shows HMS Astute on a body of water - troops stand on the ship and a flag flies in the wind. Ministry of Defence
The Royal Navy has announced it will change the name of a new submarine from HMS Agincourt to HMS Achilles, in a move described as "clever lip service" by former defence secretary Grant Shapps.
This follows reports of concern within the Ministry of Defence that the original name of the ship - which was built in Barrow, Cumbria - may have offended the French.
Agincourt refers to a battle won by England against France in 1415, as part of the Hundred Years' War.
On Sunday, the Royal Navy said the submarine would be called HMS Achilles and that the change had been under discussion for more than a year.
A spokesman said Achilles was particularly fitting as the world prepared to mark the 80th anniversaries of Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan, both of which fall this year. A previous ship, HMS Achilles, had received battle honours during the Second World War. Another ship with the same name took part in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when the Royal Navy defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet. Gavin Williamson, a former Conservative defence secretary, first announced the name Agincourt in 2018 for the ship under construction, the seventh of the Astute-class submarines to be commissioned. It had previously been suggested that it could be called Ajax. A statement from the Navy said the name change had been under discussion for more than a year and was "proposed by the Royal Navy's Ship Names and Markings Committee and approved by Her Majesty the King". But the change has sparked controversy, not least because the announcement came shortly before the Sun newspaper published an article about the internal debate over the planned name.
In a post on X, Shapps said that "renaming HMS Agincourt is nothing short of sacrilegious." He said the original name signified a defining moment in British history.
"Under Labour, clever cunning is being put ahead of the proud tradition and heritage of our armed forces," the former Tory MP said.
French authorities have made no public comment. Changing the names of Royal Navy ships is relatively rare, but not unprecedented.
In 1939, a Royal Navy corvette that was to be named HMS Pansy became HMS Heartsease shortly before its launch.
All of the Navy's Astute-class submarines have names beginning with the letter A: HMS Astute, Ambush, Artful, Audacious and Anson are all in active service.
Alongside HMS Achilles, HMS Agamemnon is also under construction.2786a050-dccf-11ef-8258-c7fdda71ed41.jpg.webp
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