Press Releases & Updates 2001

Ulla (45), from Odense in Denmark, swam inside the Trident berths, reached Vanguard and prepared to remove from the boat’s hull some of the special tiles which help the sub remain undetected by enemy craft. She was immediately challenged by a guard, who pointed a gun at her and demanded that she leave the boat alone. Ulla decided not to risk further work on the tiles and instead spray-painted in cellulose letters a metre high the word "USELESS" on the hull. She was then taken into custody by the marine patrol and charged with three offences: malicious damage (referring to the spray-painting); breach of the by-laws; being inside a prohibited area without authorisation. She was released from custody at 10 a.m. this morning. Although activists have on a number of occasions swum close to the Trident submarines this is the first time that one has been reached in Faslane, a feat the MOD police claimed was impossible. According to Ulla it was "Easy-Peasy".

This is Ulla’s 16th arrest for anti-Trident actions. In June 1999 she was one of the three women who threw laboratory equipment from the research barge Maytime to the bottom of Loch Goil. Her acquittal at Greenock Sheriff Court following this action led to the recent High Court Opinion which criticised the judgment of the Sheriff, Margaret Gimblett. Yesterday Ulla appeared in Edinburgh Sheriff Court to plead not guilty on a charge of disrupting the Scottish Parliament on 5th April.

Ulla’s determination to continue to try to disarm Trident has not been affected by the High Court’s Opinion. Referring to the Opinion she said: "Luckily there is more common sense among ordinary people, who want the lives of future generations and the environment to be protected by the law. As long as the government continues its preparations for war crime by maintaining and deploying Trident, by developing new warheads and by failing to fulfill its obligation to disarm, we in Trident Ploughshares will continue the disarmament ourselves... We do not accept the right of any government or court to keep innocent people in ongoing danger of nuclear annihilation."

Late-night raid on ’useless’ nuclear sub

The Scotsman, by John Staples

AN URGENT investigation has been launched after a well-known anti-nuclear activist managed to swim into the Faslane naval base and paint a slogan on the hull of a Trident nuclear submarine.

Yesterday’s security breach comes as a severe embarrassment to the Navy, as Military Police have previously said it would be "impossible" for anyone to penetrate as far as the submarine pens.

Ulla Roder, a long-term anti-nuclear campaigner from Denmark, said she had found it "easy" to get inside.

Ms Roder had been dropped into the water outside the base at around midnight on Thursday, kitted in a diver’s drysuit, and had swum for six hours.

She was only caught at 6am when an armed guard spotted her attempting to pull anti-radar tiles off the side of HMS Vanguard, Britain’s first Trident submarine. When she was confronted she pulled out a can of spray paint and wrote "Useless" on the hull.

It is the latest in a series of serious breaches at the high-security base at Faslane.

The 45-year-old Dane was detained for four hours before being released. A military spokesman yesterday said damage to the submarine was negligible, but added they would forward details to the Procurator Fiscal, who would decide whether to prosecute.

Miss Roder has been arrested 16 times for protests against Trident.

’What I could have done if I was a suicide bomber is unthinkable... half of Scotland could have been destroyed, over in a flash’

The Sunday Herald, Stephen Naysmith

Speaking out for the first time, the woman who last week broke into a high-security nuclear base tells her incredible story to Stephen Naysmith

ULLA RODER could pass for the new James Bond. In the early hours of Friday morning, she slipped into Gare Loch and swam undetected for five hours past police launches, over the floating barrier and into the submarine pen holding Britain’s crown nuclear jewels - two Trident submarines each worth £1 billion.

Roder could easily have attached an explosive device and, with the words "goodnight Scotland", blown up both subs. But instead the anti-nuclear campaigner took out her spray can and calmly painted the word "useless" twice before giving herself up.

Talking for the first time about the security breach - which has severely embarrassed both the Royal Navy and Ministry of Defence police at the Clyde Submarine Base, Faslane - Roder said reaching the high security zone where two nuclear-powered submarines were berthed had been "easy-peasy".

"It isn’t easy to get into a nuclear base, of course, but it was a lot easier than I had expected," she explained. "If I’d been a terrorist, I could have blown up half the Trident fleet."

The 45 year-old Danish mother-of-two said that her swim under the cover of darkness had been months in preparation. "I had known for a long while that I could get past security," she said.

She spent more than five hours in the cold waters of Gare Loch, concealing herself from police launches and searchlights and penetrating the floating barrier surrounding the berth.

Clad in thermal underwear, a drysuit, flippers and gloves, and wearing weights on her legs and belt, she set off at midnight. She took with her two chisels and a hammer, for prising protective tiles off the submarine’s hull, as well as spray paint, superglue and two bottles of "disarmament fluid" - comprising syrup, furniture polish and sand - for clogging up electronic equipment. For sustenance she carried just a packet of dried fruit and nuts.

"The only training I had was swimming in a public baths. I am physically fit and a strong swimmer," she said.

Amazingly, Roder was not noticed until she had reached the high-security berthing area within the base, swum under the floating boom which protects the immediate berth area, and reached the side of HMS Vanguard. "I had two submarines on each side of me. I didn’t know which one I would try to board."

The implications scared her, she added. "It felt very unreal, swimming there. What I could have done if I was a suicide bomber is unthinkable. We were told it was impossible to get so far, but it is possible. I never understood before how dangerous it is - half of Scotland could have been destroyed, over in a flash."

As it was she did not board either submarine but was preparing to prise tiles from the hull of Vanguard when she was spotted. "I was surprised to see that it was already missing several of the tiles. It looked rather miserable close-up.

"Then a guard shouted to me to get away from the submarine and I could hear him load his gun. I swam back because I didn’t want to risk my life doing what I was doing. Instead I got my paint out of my belt and sprayed "useless" twice on the side."

The journey to reach HMS Vanguard took a long time because of the care she had taken to remain concealed, Roder said. "I was in the water for most of the night because it takes a long time to keep yourself hidden. I spent a lot of time judging the atmosphere and the whereabouts of guards.

"It is important to use all your senses and not hurry, but there are a lot of places in a base where you can hide in the dark," she added. The only moment when she thought she might be thwarted was as she neared the target, she said. "Before I reached the high-security area a police boat came out of the mist and I thought they had spotted me. I hadn’t heard it coming, but I ducked my head down and they passed by."

Roder dismissed claims by the MoD that she had recklessly put her life at risk from drowning or hypothermia as "ridiculous". "I am a brilliant swimmer and I was never cold for a moment. I felt totally safe and wouldn’t put myself at risk."

A spokesman at the Clyde Submarine Base confirmed an inquiry would be held into Friday’s incident. "There has been a security breach and it will be thoroughly looked into," he said. "We will look to see whether there are ways in which we can further improve security. No system is perfect."

He added that anti-nuclear protesters frequently put not just their own lives but also those of MoD and naval personnel at risk. "This was an irresponsible act which could have endangered her life but also the lives of MoD police."

Officially the MoD will make no further comment about security but, privately, navy sources concede that the activities of groups such as Trident Ploughshares, of which Roder is a member, have frequently embarrassed them. However, they strongly deny that exploits such as Roder’s are indicative of a vulnerability to terrorist attack.

Political protesters are deterred without resorting to lethal force, whereas a genuine threat would not be afforded such luxury. "The protesters know this and skillfully take advantage of this," one insider said. "But people are pretty disappointed [Roder] got as far as she did. Obviously it is an embarrassment."

Roder is a veteran of such protests, and argues that nuclear weapons are in breach of international law. On the basis that civilians have a right and a duty to act to prevent war crimes, Roder and other members of Trident Ploughshares undertake direct "disarmament" actions aimed at disrupting the work of Britain’s fleet of four Trident-equipped submarines and their infrastructure. They always admit their actions, while denying that they are guilty of a "crime".

In June 1999 Roder was one of the notorious Trident Three, a group of three women who sailed in broad daylight into a floating sub marine research station in Loch Goil and demolished it, throwing computers, disks, files and other equipment into the water. They were acquitted of charges after presenting arguments that they were acting to prevent a more serious crime. However, that legal argument was dismissed during a Lord Advocate’s review of the verdict in Edinburgh last month.

Roder, who has been arrested 16 times for anti-Trident actions, says she will continue to protest. "Trident’s very presence constitutes preparation for war crimes. I don’t believe we have lost the legal argument.

"The taxpayer pays £1.5 billion a year for the Trident fleet, yet they can’t put safety in place. They must be embarrassed. However, I’m not doing this to embarrass the MoD but to disarm Trident for good."

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