CLUBFOCUS weeks to do their marinisation training . This sees them apply their learning to a maritime environment and includes sea time on a Royal Navy ship ( which means they are not available for six weeks of this term ). Those who are going to become Warfare Officers then stay on for their phase 2 training – which happens to take place at Dartmouth – but everyone else moves on to another shore-based establishment to continue with their chosen career in the Royal Navy . So , if we are lucky , we might keep someone for almost a year from arrival to departure .
How did you become involved with this Royal Navy dive club ?
I first had dealings with the branch when I met Clive Nicholls ; one of the stalwart civilian members of the branch at the time ; he was a member of staff at the college . He showed me around some impressive facilities , including the use of the college pool , several sets of kit , and a fully functioning dive RIB . I didn ’ t think that a few years later I would get a job at the college and be given the opportunity to work with the club . When I arrived at Britannia as the Navy Cadets Liaison Officer , I discovered an ailing branch . Clive was no longer there and it seemed that he had been the only one propping the club up .
What happened next ?
Britannia has a Commander , who is in charge of all day-to-day actions and reports to the Captain , who is the most senior officer at the college . When I arrived , I discovered that the incumbent Commander was a diver . I found out by chance , because , on visiting the main office to ask a question , I glanced up at the ‘ Who is doing what on the river ’ board , to see that he was in fact having a dive in the river . So as soon as he was dry and back in his office , I made a point of introducing myself . He was very keen to see the branch up and running again , and so we set about making it so .
Fantastic , but running a military BSAC club is a bit different from running a civilian one , isn ’ t it ?
Yes , military branch members must have an annual service diving medical ; military branches need to follow certain rules and produce vast quantities of paperwork for inspection , and then we need have a precise number of qualified instructors and dive supervisors in place in order to actually get wet . At Britannia , we also have to work around the busy training schedule of the cadets .
Britannia Royal Navy College , Dartmouth
Diving Gozo ’ s Inland Sea
Who are your members ?
The club at BRNC is a little unique in that it caters for trainee Officer Cadets and the staff who guide them through their 30 weeks at the college . Then they are gone , so the civilian staff very much make the branch work , or not .
Who exactly are the officer cadets ?
Royal Navy Officer Cadets come from all over the UK ( and some overseas countries ). They spend 15 weeks at Britannia doing their military training – in essence being turned from a civilian to a military fighting machine . If all goes well , they come back for another 15
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