HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant submarine collision across the seabed". However, a government spokesman said that there "was no compromise to nuclear safety". Hervé Morin, France's Minister of Defence, said that they "face an extremely simple technological problem, which is that these submarines are not detectable". HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant submarine collision The submarines HMS "Vanguard" and "Triomphant" collided in the Atlantic Ocean in the night between 3–4 February 2009. Both are nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. The Royal Navy's and the French Navy's both sustained damage, but no injuries or radioactivity releases were reported. At the time of the collision, both vessels were submerged and, according
French submarine Inflexible (S615) "Inflexible has an improved hull profile. The other "Redoutable"-class submarines have been modified to meet the standards of "L'Inflexible" ("Refonte M4"). "L'Inflexible" was officially decommissioned on 14 January 2008. "L'Inflexible" has inspired "Le Soleil ne se lève pas pour nous" (""No sunrise for us"") by Robert Merle, a 1987 semi-fictitious book in form of a romanced documentary. French submarine Inflexible (S615) L'Inflexible (S 615) is the sixth and final of the SNLE (""Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins"", "Nuclear Missile-Launching Submarine") of the Force océanique stratégique (FOST), the submarine nuclear deterrent component of the French Navy. Construction began on 27 March 1980.