Leading Seaman Stephen Shephard is serving on board HMS Astute, the first submarine of its class and the most capable ever operated by the navy.

Stephen, 24, is part of the team responsible for the communications information systems on board Astute which was launched in June last year at her current base in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and has been described as more technologically complex than the Space Shuttle.

Stephen said: "I volunteered for Astute because not many people can say they were on board a submarine which is the first of her class.

"She's an amazing submarine – she's much more advanced than anything I've ever served on and because of that she's much easier to operate because everything is less labour-intensive. I can't wait to go to sea in her for the first time and put everything into practice."

Stephen, who is expecting his first child with fiancée Chantelle in April, hails from Conisbrough and is a former pupil of Pope Pius X RC School in Wath-upon-Dearne.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1999 and his service has taken him throughout the Mediterranean and as far a field as Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Astute has set new standards in terms of the type and range of weapons it carries, its ability to operate stealthily and the comfort of its crew.

The boat is powered by a nuclear plant which will not need to be refuelled for the whole of its 25-year operational life. In fact, Astute is able to circumnavigate the world without resurfacing and her ability to stay underwater is limited only by the amount of food she can carry and the endurance of her crew.