British and American Nuclear Submarines Make Strategic Stops in Gibraltar Amid Rising Tensions
Two nuclear submarines, one British and one American, have made unexpected appearances in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory. The Royal Navy's HMS Anson, an Astute Class nuclear attack submarine, docked in Gibraltar on May 14 after a deployment to HMAS Stirling in Western Australia. This move follows the brief stop of a US Navy Ohio Class ballistic missile submarine, tentatively identified as USS Alaska, in Gibraltar. The HMS Anson had initially left Faslane on January 10 and was involved in a Submarine Maintenance Period in Australia. The return to Gibraltar is speculated to be linked to the heightened Russian underwater threat in the Greenland-Iceland-UK sea area and potential involvement in the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group deployment. The USS Alaska's presence in Gibraltar, supported by a US Navy E-6A Mercury nuclear communications aircraft from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is unusual and may relate to recent Spanish restrictions on US force deployments. 
