Submariner tried to give Russians secrets behind nuclear defence But, unknown to Devenney who has been in the Royal Navy for more than 11 years, he had been talking to British agents posing as their Russian counterparts. In their meeting he boasted he was in charge of the engineers for the communications department and had unfettered access to the system used to send top secret messages between the ship and Naval HQ and NATO allies. He also had access to the periscope system, the radar and electronics warfare systems. He also gave details of his submarine's sailing dates from HMS Devonport to the nuclear naval base Farslane and then its departure to the east coast of America for missile testing. Mark Dennis QC, prosecuting, said advanced information about sailing dates would enable a foreign power to deploy a surveillance operation to capture the "unique" underwater signatures each submarine so that they then could be tracked anywhere in the world. This meant the submarines "lost its most critical and crucial asset, namely to be deployed without detection." He said: "Although the actual damage caused by the defendant proved to be minimal, that was not due to the defendant but due solely to the work of the security service. The potential damage had the defendant's actions and intentions not been discovered in time could have been considerable and would have harmed the safety and interests of the UK. He quoted a senior Captain who said about Devenney's treason: "I can't imagine there is a single submariner either serving or retired who would not view Devenney's actions with anything but disgust. Such a betrayal within the ranks of the close knit submarine service for whom secrecy, loyalty and trust have been fundamental principles for over 60 years including the Cold War is almost beyond belief. At an earlier hearing Devenney pleaded guilty to breaching the Official Secrets Act and faces a maximum sentence of 14 years behind bars. He admitted he collected "secret official codes or passwords or any sketch, plan, model, article or note or other documents or information namely Crypto material" between November 2011 and March 2012. He also admitted misconduct in public office by "wilfully misconducts yourself in attempting to set up and continue a covert relationship with a foreign power with the intention of harming the Royal navy and thereby acting to the detriment of the state and public interest." However, he denied one count of breaching the Official Secrets Act when communicating information on January 28 this year which could be deemed to be useful to an enemy of the state. Devenney was arrested by officers at the naval base in Plymouth in March of this year. He had enjoyed a promising career in the Navy, with the service sponsoring him to take time away from sea to study for a degree in electronic engineering. He had also passed exams giving him a place on a course to become a commissioned navy officer - but he began to drink excessively and suffered from bouts of depression while awaiting trial for rape which forced him to drop out in 2011. He was later acquitted of the sex attack following a Crown Court trial. In the months leading to his betrayal he was often late for duty or absent without leave and was warned he faced being thrown out of the service. But he blamed budget cuts and said he had been "binned" when he met the agents posing as Russian spy's first at the British Museum and then in a hotel room in Bloomsbury in January of this year. The meeting was recorded in which "he explained he had been thinking of leaving the service and then got the idea he would actually hurt the profession and Royal Navy , but not too much so that he got caught. He said he would effectively like to share any information that he got. He said 'right now at this moment I have nothing but I have potential to get whatever is in the system'. The court heard he first contacted the 'enemy' embassy in November last year, offering highly sensitive information related to his work. The secret services then set up a sting operation by sending officers posing as agents for to meet him. Devenney, Northern Ireland, is to be sentenced later.