HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Prince William visited the Home of the UK Submarine Service in Argyll and Bute this week 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.
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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.
While officially opening the SMERAS facility Prince William also signed the guest book on the same page as his Grandfather, Prince Philip.
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