Perisher (Part IV)

In Perisher Parts I to III, I refer often to “Teacher”, the instructor, examiner, and sometime executioner on whether a given officer is up to commanding a British (and in former times Canadian) submarine. I have no reason to think Teacher who put his charges through their paces in HMS Alderney while I was a member of her wardroom was any different than his predecessors or successors.

He was, though, a formidable naval officer. Sandy Woodward, more formally Admiral Sir John Forster (Sandy) Woodward, GBE, KCB, most notably commanded the British naval forces in the Falklands War of 1982. In that role, he ordered the sinking of the Belgrano by HMS Conqueror.

In his subsequent writing Admiral Woodward made it clear he would have given the order with or without Whitehall’s blessing. His request for approval was routed through Whitehall, and made it to Margaret Thatcher’s desk—and she didn’t hesitate to authorize the sinking.

At the time many in Britain and abroad felt the torpedoing of the Belgrano was almost a war crime—now refuted by the facts and confirmed as a legitimate act by the Belgrano's Argentinian captain.

 I recall then-Commander Sandy Woodward as a plain-spoken, direct, demanding and very proficient submariner. He continues to serve his country, even though his submarine days are well past.

He continues to play the hawk, writing for the “Mail Online” on defence matters. (For a sample, see below.) Among other positions, he has stated that Britain would not be able to defend the Falklands given recent naval and military cutbacks.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2003263/Falkland-Islands-Britain-defend-English-Channel.html

Perisher (Part III)

I have recently been in touch via the internet with a Scottish friend. We initially “met” because of a mutual interest in WW I and the cavalry. Since then, he has also taken an interest in my blog, which deals with submarine matters as well as the cavalry.

He recently referred me to a site that features a BBC documentary about the Perisher.

It provides a fascinating but brief look at what the course was like, and no doubt still is like. The stress under which the hopeful candidates labour is very evident.

I was particularly excited to see the footage because it features HMS Oracle, a diesel-electric O-boat of the same vintage as the now retired HMCS Ojibwa, Onondaga, and Okanagan, the latter being the only RCN submrarine in which I was lucky enough to serve. The footage of Oracle is brief, and right toward the end.

If any readers have other sites featuring footage of O-boats, A-boats etc I’d be very excited to hear from them.
Here is the site:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1wr8J-edbo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Perisher (Part I)

Many a competent submariner has had his career sidetracked by the Perisher course. That was the very appropriate name given to the Submarine Command Course run by the Royal Navy. It was— and is, no doubt—a twenty-four-week long marathon that must be run successfully by submarine officers aspiring to command. It covers weapons, tactics, communications, navigation—and, very heavily, safety.

There is no place for complacency, incompetence, or just plain bad luck when driving a submarine, and the Perisher is meant to weed out applicants. The officer in charge of a Perisher class is known as “Teacher”.

 Once the officers on course had completed their shore time in trainers and classrooms, it was off to sea for very realistic exercises. One class went to sea in HMS Alderney, an A-class boat in which I served in 1966-67.

Picture a group of lieutenants and lieutenant-commanders from various navies—British, Canadian, Netherlands, Norwegian, among others—hanging on Teacher’s every word. Overhead on the surface would be a target vessel. Officers would take turns as “captain”, making use of the attack periscope to conduct an approach to, and simulated attack on, the target. And overseeing the whole procedure was Teacher, handy to the search periscope in case of a problem with safety. Heaven help the student who had his attack interrupted by Teacher.
Qualifiers moved on to more complicated problems. One such scenario featured an attack on a target  merchantman playing the part of an enemy aircraft carrier, defended by very real frigates and destroyers. Harried officers would find themselves in the middle of a very complex battle scenario, when Teacher would throw in an emergency such as a fire on board or the planes jammed in the dive position.

More to come!