Royal Navy Sub
'Mayday! Mayday! We're being hunted by a Russian black hole!' - A Royal Navy 'Astute class' submarine
A somewhat hilarious story has come to light about the shenanigans of the bumbling British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean. The story relates specifically to the only British submarine sent to take part in the recent attack on Syria.

The UK Sunday Times reports:
"While British PM Theresa May was deciding last week whether to launch strikes against Syria, a drama began beneath the surface of the eastern Mediterranean

A Royal Navy submarine armed with cruise missiles is believed to have been hunted by at least one, and possibly two, Russian submarines dubbed "the Black Hole" by western naval experts because they are so quiet."
Kilo-class Russian 'hunter-killers' are powered by two diesel generators and an electric drive, which allows them to operate extremely quietly, and can be armed with torpedoes, cruise and anti-ship missiles.
Russian kilo class sub
A Russian Kilo Class 'black hole' submarine
It seems that the British 'Astute Class' sub had been trying for several days to approach close enough to the Syrian coast in order to fire some of its 20 cruise missiles at targets in Syria. It was however continually stalked not only by the Russian 'black hole' submarine but also by two Russian frigates and an anti-submarine aircraft. As a result, the unfortunate crew of the British sub were unable to fire their missiles at Syria. How disappointing for them.

The Sunday Times article claims that the British submarine was "protected by US navy P-8 maritime patrol aircraft" that aimed to track Russia's ships and subs. Yet it appears that the Russian kilo class "black hole" submarines were able to operate freely and effectively kick the submarine of the once proud British navy out of the combat zone.

Interestingly, this offers a different, and more likely, explanation as to why at least some of the Russian ships departed their naval base in Tartus a few days before the attack on Syria. A Russian lawmaker and Western media had claimed that they put to sea to avoid being attacked, but it now seems that they had an altogether different plan.

Russian ships tartus