Verdict due at sub deaths inquest

Operator Mechanic Anthony Huntrod, 20, and Leading Mechanic Operator Paul McCann, 32, were killed on board HMS Tireless during a training exercise off Alaska in March 2007.

A Board of Inquiry into their deaths heavily criticised the Navy and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after finding the oxygen device had been contaminated with oil.

It blamed "systematic failings" within the organisations for the tragedy, and led Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth to issue an "unreserved" apology in the Commons.

During the seven-week hearing in Sunderland, coroner Derek Winter, who is sitting without a jury, heard evidence from more than 100 witnesses.

The inquest has heard how the men were involved in a war games training exercise on board the hunter-killer class sub, which was sailing hundreds of feet under the Arctic ice pack 170 miles north of Deadhorse, in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

They were trapped in a forward escape compartment when the Scog (Self contained oxygen generator) exploded, buckling the hatch doors and preventing rescuers from reaching them.

Tireless, which had 130 crewmen on board, surfaced immediately, punching a hole through the pack ice for survivors to be airlifted to safety.

But it took rescuers 44 minutes to reach the cabin where Mr Huntrod, from Sunderland, and Mr McCann, from Halesowen in the West Midlands, lay injured.

Post-mortem examinations later revealed Mr Huntrod died from multiple injuries, while Mr McCann's cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning.