Audacious Leeds the way as new submarine is affiliated with great Yorkshire city

After six years without one of Her Majesty’s warships to take under their wing, the people of Leeds now have a bond with the Royal Navy once again.

The Yorkshire powerhouse, for seven decades associated with a succession of HMS Ark Royals, will be the affiliated city of new hunter-killer submarine HMS Audacious.

The fourth of the Astute-class boats is in the closing stages of completion inside the gigantic Devonshire Hall at BAE’s yard in Barrow, alongside boats 5, 6 and 7 and HMS Dreadnought, the first of the next-generation nuclear deterrent submarines.

Leeds’ links with RN warships goes back to Ark Royal III which was ‘adopted’ by the city shortly before she was sunk in 1941; its inhabitants then raised around £9m to build a replacement which came in the form of Ark Royal IV, the famous Audacious-class carrier which served for a quarter of a century.

And most recently Leeds had a strong association with the Harrier carrier.

But with her demise following the 2010 defence review, the famous name has been in abeyance – and Leeds has been shipless.

Members of Audacious’ crew visited Leeds United’s Elland Road home for a tour during the recent international break and were then seen pounding the city centre streets during the civic Armistice Day parade.

The affiliation with the football team – currently enjoying their most successful season in a decade – will be cemented when the submariners are invited to attend the home clash with Reading on December 13.

“We are delighted to announce an affiliation with Leeds and this bond of friendship has been extended to Leeds Utd who are keen supporters of the Armed Forces,” said Audacious’ logistics officer Lieutenant Noel Wilson.

“We look forward to marching on together and further building the links already formed when we attend the Reading game ."