Surviving HMS Excellent
Earlier this month, ten Royal Naval cadets travelled to Portsmouth to begin their Survival Skills Course in the Phoenix Centre on HMS Excellent.
The trip saw us tackle fire-fighting with staff giving a very good practical demonstration of the different types of fire fighting equipment in use today, both in the home and on board ship. After this we were given overalls and boots to go and fight a real fire. We were shown how the Royal Navy trains their fire-fighters in the dark and smoke filled compartments that resembled those compartments found on board ships.
Next came the DRIU (Damage Repair Instructional Unit) which included demonstrations about how to plug holes in the sides of a ship with wooden wedges and GRP domes. We then got a tour of the DRIU which soon afterwards, we would be required to work on in the dark and with possibly smoke as the unit filled with water. If the nerves weren’t already beginning to get to us, the adrenaline certainly was.
When the command ‘Brace, brace!’ rang out, down we went and in little groups plugged every hole that we could, realising that the room was already full of water and that some of the holes were UNDER the water level. In some cases, we had to submerge our fellow ship mates to plug the hole. Then the pressure of the water coming out of a hole in a cabinet hit us and it took the strength of three of us to plug that hole. After a while we had the situation under control and the holes were sealed. This was just in time as several of us were beginning to shake from the cold water temperature. What an experience; we encourage others to:
“Join the RN Section and get the action you deserve”
Cdr Jon Shorrocks – Head of the Royal Naval Section, RGS CCF
