Budding submariners undergoing training at the Submarine Qualification Centre, at Devonport Naval Base, can now take a break from their lessons in a newly refurbished recreation area thanks to a grant from the Royal Navy’s re-balancing lives fund.
The grant of £2,400 has paid for new furnishings including settees, cabin chairs, a dining table and chairs and other amenities such as a fridge freezer, microwave, kettles, an IPod docking station, dartboards and a DVD player complete with a selection of DVDs.
Chief Petty Officer ‘Apples’ Appleton said:
“The students are resident in Raleigh Block, HMS Drake, during their demanding 10 week course. The money we have received from the re-balancing lives fund has enabled us to enhance the living environment of the students, boosting their morale and putting them in an improved frame of mind for learning.”
Captain Justin Hughes, Captain Submarines Devonport, formally opened the new recreation space during a visit to the Centre. He also presented course certificates to the latest group to complete training.
The Submarine Qualification Centre is a satellite of the HMS Raleigh based Royal Navy Submarine School. During a 10 week intensive course students are taught how the submarine’s systems work and all the routines carried out onboard. They learn everything from the technical detail on how the boat dives and surfaces, to how the nuclear reactor works to drive the submarine. On completion of this stage of their training the students move on to a period at sea on board an operational submarine where they put everything they’ve learnt into practice. Once they reach the required standard and pass the tests at sea, they are presented with their dolphins, the coveted emblem of the submarine service.
Grants from the re-balancing lives funds are designed to assist with small one-off projects or equipment to help improve working conditions, ways of working and improve morale for personnel within Fleet Units.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, March 7, 2013; Image: Royal Navy