HRH PRINCE WILLIAM OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW £34M TRAINING FACILITY AT FASLANE
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HMS AUDACIOUS ARRIVES AT CLYDE HOME
HMS Audacious, the fourth of the Royal Navys Astute-class submarines, has arrived at her new home at HM Naval Base Clyde.
The new submarine and her 98-strong crew arrived at the Naval Base in Argyll and Bute today (April 7), flying the White Ensign after sailing from BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness.
Welcoming the vessel to her new home were members of the Submarine Flotilla SUBFLOT based at Clyde.
It is with great excitement that we welcome HMS Audacious to the Clyde, joining her three sister submarines, said Commodore Jim Perks OBE, Head of the Submarine Service.
HMS Audacious represents an ever improving example of the world-leading Astute class submarine. She is right at the cutting-edge of technology, built here in the UK by our own people. She will provide the country with remarkable security at sea to protect our nations interests.
HMS Audacious will join sister-submarines HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful which are already in-service and operating from Faslane. A further three boats named Anson, Agamemnon and Agincourt - are currently under construction at BAE in Barrow.
The Astute-class vessels are among the most sophisticated submarines ever constructed for the RoyalNavy.
HRH Prince William opens Training Facility HRH PRINCE WILLIAM OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW £34M TRAINING FACILITY AT HOME OF THE SUBMARINE SERVICE HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Prince William visited the Home of the UK Submarine Service in Argyll and Bute today (June 29) to meet with service personnel and to officially open a multi-million-pound training facility. The Prince, who is Commodore-in-Chief Submarines, spent the afternoon at HM Naval Base Clyde, Scotland’s largest military establishment, beginning with an update on operations delivered by members of the Submarine Flotilla. While at the site His Royal Highness officially opened the new £34M Submarine Escape, Rescue, Abandonment and Survival (SMERAS) facility. Known as “Thetis” building, after wartime submarine HMS Thetis which sank in Liverpool Bay in 1939, the facility is used to train Royal Navy Submariners in how to safely escape from a stricken submarine. The state-of-the-art building features a realistic simulator capable of mimicking a variety of weather conditions and sea states. Trainers can put students through their paces in the water, giving them the opportunity to practise abandoning a submarine and escaping to life rafts while wind, rain and even thunder and lightning rage around them. Submariners can also practise Escape from Depth methods in a realistic training environment, simulating the expected conditions on board a submarine in distress. Captain Iain Breckenridge OBE, in charge of submarine training with the navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training organisation, said: “We were delighted to host our Commodore-in-Chief to open this fantastic and world-leading submarine escape training facility. “His Royal Highness toured the entire building, met training staff and students, and enjoyed some hands-on operation of the escape towers and wave generator.” While officially opening the SMERAS facility Prince William also signed the guest book on the same page as his Grandfather, Prince
HRH Prince William opens Training Facility HRH PRINCE WILLIAM OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW £34M TRAINING FACILITY AT HOME OF THE SUBMARINE SERVICE HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Prince William visited the Home of the UK Submarine Service in Argyll and Bute today (June 29) to meet with service personnel and to officially open a multi-million-pound training facility. The Prince, who is Commodore-in-Chief Submarines, spent the afternoon at HM Naval Base Clyde, Scotlands largest military establishment, beginning with an update on operations delivered by members of the Submarine Flotilla. While at the site His Royal Highness officially opened the new £34M Submarine Escape, Rescue, Abandonment and Survival (SMERAS) facility. Known as Thetis building, after wartime submarine HMS Thetis which sank in Liverpool Bay in 1939, the facility is used to train Royal Navy Submariners in how to safely escape from a stricken submarine. The state-of-the-art building features a realistic simulator capable of mimicking a variety of weather conditions and sea states. Trainers can put students through their paces in the water, giving them the opportunity to practise abandoning a submarine and escaping to life rafts while wind, rain and even thunder and lightning rage around them. Submariners can also practise Escape from Depth methods in a realistic training environment, simulating the expected conditions on board a submarine in distress. Captain Iain Breckenridge OBE, in charge of submarine training with the navys Flag Officer Sea Training organisation, said: We were delighted to host our Commodore-in-Chief to open this fantastic and world-leading submarine escape training facility. His Royal Highness toured the entire building, met training staff and students, and enjoyed some hands-on operation of the escape towers and wave generator. While officially opening the SMERAS facility Prince William also signed the guest book on the same page as his Grandfather, Prince
HRH Prince William opens Training Facility HRH PRINCE WILLIAM OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW £34M TRAINING FACILITY AT HOME OF THE SUBMARINE SERVICE HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Prince William visited the Home of the UK Submarine Service in Argyll and Bute today (June 29) to meet with service personnel and to officially open a multi-million-pound training facility. The Prince, who is Commodore-in-Chief Submarines, spent the afternoon at HM Naval Base Clyde, Scotland’s largest military establishment, beginning with an update on operations delivered by members of the Submarine Flotilla. While at the site His Royal Highness officially opened the new £34M Submarine Escape, Rescue, Abandonment and Survival (SMERAS) facility. Known as “Thetis” building, after wartime submarine HMS Thetis which sank in Liverpool Bay in 1939, the facility is used to train Royal Navy Submariners in how to safely escape from a stricken submarine. The state-of-the-art building features a realistic simulator capable of mimicking a variety of weather conditions and sea states. Trainers can put students through their paces in the water, giving them the opportunity to practise abandoning a submarine and escaping to life rafts while wind, rain and even thunder and lightning rage around them. Submariners can also practise Escape from Depth methods in a realistic training environment, simulating the expected conditions on board a submarine in distress. Captain Iain Breckenridge OBE, in charge of submarine training with the navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training organisation, said: “We were delighted to host our Commodore-in-Chief to open this fantastic and world-leading submarine escape training facility. “His Royal Highness toured the entire building, met training staff and students, and enjoyed some hands-on operation of the escape towers and wave generator.” While officially opening the SMERAS facility Prince William also signed the guest book on the same page as his Grandfather, Prince
HRH Prince William opens Training Facility HRH PRINCE WILLIAM OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW £34M TRAINING FACILITY AT HOME OF THE SUBMARINE SERVICE HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Prince William visited the Home of the UK Submarine Service in Argyll and Bute today (June 29) to meet with service personnel and to officially open a multi-million-pound training facility. The Prince, who is Commodore-in-Chief Submarines, spent the afternoon at HM Naval Base Clyde, Scotland’s largest military establishment, beginning with an update on operations delivered by members of the Submarine Flotilla. While at the site His Royal Highness officially opened the new £34M Submarine Escape, Rescue, Abandonment and Survival (SMERAS) facility. Known as “Thetis” building, after wartime submarine HMS Thetis which sank in Liverpool Bay in 1939, the facility is used to train Royal Navy Submariners in how to safely escape from a stricken submarine. The state-of-the-art building features a realistic simulator capable of mimicking a variety of weather conditions and sea states. Trainers can put students through their paces in the water, giving them the opportunity to practise abandoning a submarine and escaping to life rafts while wind, rain and even thunder and lightning rage around them. Submariners can also practise Escape from Depth methods in a realistic training environment, simulating the expected conditions on board a submarine in distress. Captain Iain Breckenridge OBE, in charge of submarine training with the navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training organisation, said: “We were delighted to host our Commodore-in-Chief to open this fantastic and world-leading submarine escape training facility. “His Royal Highness toured the entire building, met training staff and students, and enjoyed some hands-on operation of the escape towers and wave generator.” While officially opening the SMERAS facility Prince William also signed the guest book on the same page as his Grandfather, Prince
By Lucy Ashton
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Prince William visited the home of the UK Submarine Service at Faslane on the Gareloch today (June 29) to meet with service personnel and to officially open a multi-million-pound training facility.
The Prince, who is Commodore-in-Chief Submarines, spent the afternoon at HM Naval Base Clyde, Scotland’s largest military establishment, beginning with an update on operations delivered by members of the Submarine Flotilla.
While at the site His Royal Highness officially opened the new £34M Submarine Escape, Rescue, Abandonment and Survival (SMERAS) facility.
Known as “Thetis” building, after wartime submarine HMS Thetis which sank in Liverpool Bay in 1939, the facility is used to train Royal Navy Submariners in how to safely escape from a stricken submarine.
The state-of-the-art building features a realistic simulator capable of mimicking a variety of weather conditions and sea states.
Trainers can put students through their paces in the water, giving them the opportunity to practise abandoning a submarine and escaping to life rafts while wind, rain and even thunder and lightning rage around them.
Captain Iain Breckenridge OBE, in charge of submarine training with the navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training organisation, said: “We were delighted to host our Commodore-in-Chief to open this fantastic and world-leading submarine escape training facility.
“His Royal Highness toured the entire building, met training staff and students, and enjoyed some hands-on operation of the escape towers and wave generator.”
While officially opening the SMERAS facility, Prince William also signed the guest book on the same page as his grandfather, Prince Philip, did in 1961, and his father, Prince Charles, signed in 1972.
The guest book was inherited by the SMERAS team from the previous submarine training facility, SETT (Submarine Escape Tank Trainer), at HMS Dolphin in Gosport.
Generations of Submariners undertook their training at the Gosport establishment’s famous escape tower before its closure last year.
The new SMERAS facility at HM Naval Base Clyde has taken up the baton, becoming the site where all current and future Submariners will be trained in vital escape skills.
SMERAS is part of the transformation of the Naval Base into the Submarine Centre of Specialisation.
Other development work underway at the site includes the construction of a new £100M Submarine Training School.
Royal Navy Submarine School training is currently held at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall but will be transferred to the new Faslane facility in the future, along with the Defence School of Marine Engineering, the Nuclear Systems Group and Nuclear Department and HMS Sultan in Gosport.
More than 6,700 civilians and Service personnel are employed at HM Naval Base Clyde with this number set to increase in preparation for the arrival of the Dreadnought class of submarines, the next generation of the deterrent at the end of the decade.
Commodore Jim Perks OBE, Head of the Royal Navy Submarine Service, said: “This visit has been an excellent and important opportunity to update the Submarine Service’s Commodore-in-Chief on recent operations.
“It has also provided us with an opportunity to highlight the ongoing work on the Clyde to make the Naval Base the Royal Navy’s Submarine Centre of Specialisation.
“These are exciting times to be a submariner at HM Naval Base Clyde as we continue to shape the future of the Service.”
Serving submariners were also able to speak with The Prince outside of HM Naval Base Clyde’s Neptune Building Supermess at the site’s Submariners’ Memorial Garden.
The Prince heard from personnel about life in the Submarine Service, and about ongoing initiatives aimed at helping to improve mental health of members of the armed forces.
His Royal Highness Prince William has been Commodore-in-Chief Submarines since 2006.
He has previously visited attack submarine HMS Artful at sea in 2016 where he presented dolphins badges to newly qualified Submariners and conducted his first submarine dive.
The Prince has also presented deterrent pins to Submariners at HM Naval Base Clyde and also attended a service at Westminster Abbey in 2020 which marked 50 years of the Continuous At Sea Deterrent.
Submariners at HMNB Clyde have been putting their new training facility through its paces. The new SMERAS trainer allows the men and women of the silent service to experience abandoning a submarine from below the waves and on the surface. The new Faslane facility will see all submariners pass through its doors on their way to becoming submariners.
Picture Captions:
HRH Prince William receives a tour of the new SMERAS facelift; His Royal Highness meeting Royal Navy Submariners undergoing escape training; HRH Prince William, Commodore-in-Chief of the Submarine Service, with Commodore Jim Perks OBE, Head of the Submarine Service, during the official opening and Submariners demonstrate their escape skills within SMERAS.
