For today's story from the Advertiser's archives, we go back 10 years to a significant day in the life of the Faslane naval base with the arrival of a giant new floating jetty to serve the Royal Navy's submarines.

Here's how we reported on the enormous structure's arrival in the Advertiser on May 21, 2009...

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HM Naval Base Clyde took delivery of a 44,000 tonne jetty on Tuesday - 10 years and £150 million after design work began.

The floating jetty, named Valiant, built at Greenock and then floated up the Gare Loch to its new base, will be the sophisticated home for the Royal Navy’s next generation of nuclear powered submarines.

Dozens of people lined the shores and watched in amazement as the giant jetty, the size of two rugby pitches, was towed up the loch and nudged into place.

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The Valiant jetty has been five years in the planning, five years in build, and is designed to serve the Royal Navy’s submarines for the next 50 years.

This is the first prime contract project awarded by Defence Estates for Defence Equipment and Support and has been delivered in partnership with AMEC and Morgan Est.

An integrated project team of Defence Estates, Jacobs, DE&S, Royal Navy and Babcock personnel has supported AMEC, the single point of responsibility throughout the project, to ensure that the diverse work streams have achieved a finished product which will have a 50 year-long operational lifespan.

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The jetty can accommodate any of the Royal Navy’s nuclear powered, conventionally armed, submarines but the jetty has been designed specifically with the new Astute Class in mind.

The operation to move Valiant into place was complex. Built and floated from Inchgreen Dry Dock in Greenock, the jetty was towed the 12 miles to Faslane by five tugs and took around six hours to complete the journey.

At 200 metres long, 28 metres wide and over 10 metres deep, the jetty is as long as the Navy’s current aircraft carriers and more than twice the tonnage, which meant that negotiation of the Rhu Narrows into the Gareloch required careful co-ordination and temporary closure of the port to provide a safe route for the tow.