where can i go see some submarines?
Discussion
ever since i was little iv been scared with submarines! i remember we sailed from somewhere down south, and we saw some decommissioned, rusty old boats in a semi dry dock somewhere. from there dad started winding me up and there the story goes.
so as a 25 year old, its time to face my fear. i rarely travell south, and no further than lancaster where my girlfriends at uni.
i know the new astute class are built in barrow by bae, but is there any chance to see any boats there?
Paul
so as a 25 year old, its time to face my fear. i rarely travell south, and no further than lancaster where my girlfriends at uni.
i know the new astute class are built in barrow by bae, but is there any chance to see any boats there?
Paul
Go to the GareLoch, get a little boat and head over to Faslane to take a closer look at a bomber.
When they let you out, let us know how it went....
Although you get pretty close to subs departing/arriving by standing on the spit at the Rhu narrows, or alternatively at Devil's Point in Plymouth.
When they let you out, let us know how it went....
Although you get pretty close to subs departing/arriving by standing on the spit at the Rhu narrows, or alternatively at Devil's Point in Plymouth.
Edited by andy400 on Thursday 25th February 06:44
In my younger days when i was a operations reactor engineer in the nuclear power industry in the UK, i had just successfully finished training with three other guys, as a jaunt away i asked my boss if we could go to Faslane for a visit to the training facilities there. There was no guarantee that they would even let us through the gate, however i did have an ace up my sleeve, i was ex RN, which i suppose helped. Anyway we got the go ahead from the head training officer in Faslane and our bosses to do a visit and a reciprocal visit for the RN guys. Us three trainees plus our mentor made our way up to Faslane, bearing in mind this was 1993/4, although security was tight it wasnt as bad as today, we were greeted and given a great reception and shown around the base, went onto one of the nukes in refit (cant remember the name now) then they let us loose in the submarine simulator. The sim was awesome, this huge box on massive hydraulic rams was open to the four of us with two training instructors, we were strapped (harnessed) into seats in the main control room and basically told the do's and dont's for very basic diving and surfacing drills in a sub and also drill for entering and leaving harbour, which we loved. Then we realised why they had us harnessed in, they said we could dive and they would adjust the "swell" of the sea on the surface. Now being ex RN myself and had done quite a lot of sailing in the southern ocean after leaving the RN i was ok with the swell to a point, then i began to feel the affects, partly because i couldnt focus on any "horizon" and the full greasy spoon breakfast i had had only a few hours earlier. Anyway i did manage to keep mine down, unlike two of the others in the group. It seems that the instructors do this to everyone who has a stint in there and they had the buckets ready too. It was quite amazing to feel the seasickness affect come on but knowing your not at sea. After about an hour of messing around "under the sea" they let us do an emergency surface which was great. After the simulator they took us into the reactor simulator, which we were fairly familiar with the controls and safety devices, however one big red switch in the middle of the control panel caught our eyes, which are not never fitted to land based commercial reactors.....so we just had to ask the question, "whats that?" the standard answer was, "If i tell you what that does i shall have to kill you". They did tell us its function but im sworn to secrecy so cant tell you. you can probably hazard a good guess though....
Not much help to the OP i know as i doubt they still do these "jollies" anymore, but still a great experience to have.
Not much help to the OP i know as i doubt they still do these "jollies" anymore, but still a great experience to have.
Security is very tight at Faslane (my OH is on subs and we did get a recent tour of his V boat which the kids loved!), but there's next to no chance of that unless you have previous clearance and someone authorised with you. You can park up above the base and there is always at least one boat in that you can see quite clearly although it is at a bit of a distance.
As said before, you might well see one coming in on the surface if you're lucky.
As said before, you might well see one coming in on the surface if you're lucky.
There is. For which see the third post of this thread.
Eric Mc said:
Isn't there a submarine museum at Gosport?
Yes, it's the Royal Navy one mentioned above. They have an A-class sub which you can go aboard - when I went the tour was conducted by a chap who had served on one and it was fascinating.If you are going to make a trip there especially it is worth going to see the other museums across the water at the same time, but it will need more than one day to get round it all.
There is also an O-class submarine at the historic dockyard at Chatham. There is also the last WW2 destroyer HMS Cavalier and HMS Gannet, a warship from the late 19th Century. All of those you can go aboard. I believe that a ticket is valid for a year so you can go back again at no extra cost, which is a good thing because there is a lot to see there.
Edit - There is the Nautilus museum in Birkenhead, which has the USS Nautilus. U-534 (a Type IXC) is also there, and I believe it has been cut into sections to allow you to see inside. It was sunk at the end of the war and then salvaged later, so the interior won't be intact as the others are.
Edited by tank slapper on Thursday 25th February 09:07
phumy said:
In my younger days when i was a operations reactor engineer in the nuclear power industry in the UK, i had just successfully finished training with three other guys, as a jaunt away i asked my boss if we could go to Faslane for a visit to the training facilities there. There was no guarantee that they would even let us through the gate, however i did have an ace up my sleeve, i was ex RN, which i suppose helped. Anyway we got the go ahead from the head training officer in Faslane and our bosses to do a visit and a reciprocal visit for the RN guys. Us three trainees plus our mentor made our way up to Faslane, bearing in mind this was 1993/4, although security was tight it wasnt as bad as today, we were greeted and given a great reception and shown around the base, went onto one of the nukes in refit (cant remember the name now) then they let us loose in the submarine simulator. The sim was awesome, this huge box on massive hydraulic rams was open to the four of us with two training instructors, we were strapped (harnessed) into seats in the main control room and basically told the do's and dont's for very basic diving and surfacing drills in a sub and also drill for entering and leaving harbour, which we loved. Then we realised why they had us harnessed in, they said we could dive and they would adjust the "swell" of the sea on the surface. Now being ex RN myself and had done quite a lot of sailing in the southern ocean after leaving the RN i was ok with the swell to a point, then i began to feel the affects, partly because i couldnt focus on any "horizon" and the full greasy spoon breakfast i had had only a few hours earlier. Anyway i did manage to keep mine down, unlike two of the others in the group. It seems that the instructors do this to everyone who has a stint in there and they had the buckets ready too. It was quite amazing to feel the seasickness affect come on but knowing your not at sea. After about an hour of messing around "under the sea" they let us do an emergency surface which was great. After the simulator they took us into the reactor simulator, which we were fairly familiar with the controls and safety devices, however one big red switch in the middle of the control panel caught our eyes, which are not never fitted to land based commercial reactors.....so we just had to ask the question, "whats that?" the standard answer was, "If i tell you what that does i shall have to kill you". They did tell us its function but im sworn to secrecy so cant tell you. you can probably hazard a good guess though....
Not much help to the OP i know as i doubt they still do these "jollies" anymore, but still a great experience to have.
You'll be referring to the switch that electrifies the hull of course - you know to keep the giant octopuses at bay; that and Greenpeace protesters. Not much help to the OP i know as i doubt they still do these "jollies" anymore, but still a great experience to have.
OP Liverpool submarine museum is what you need
http://www.liverpool.com/art/submarine-museum-open...
rhinochopig said:
phumy said:
In my younger days when i was a operations reactor engineer in the nuclear power industry in the UK, i had just successfully finished training with three other guys, as a jaunt away i asked my boss if we could go to Faslane for a visit to the training facilities there. There was no guarantee that they would even let us through the gate, however i did have an ace up my sleeve, i was ex RN, which i suppose helped. Anyway we got the go ahead from the head training officer in Faslane and our bosses to do a visit and a reciprocal visit for the RN guys. Us three trainees plus our mentor made our way up to Faslane, bearing in mind this was 1993/4, although security was tight it wasnt as bad as today, we were greeted and given a great reception and shown around the base, went onto one of the nukes in refit (cant remember the name now) then they let us loose in the submarine simulator. The sim was awesome, this huge box on massive hydraulic rams was open to the four of us with two training instructors, we were strapped (harnessed) into seats in the main control room and basically told the do's and dont's for very basic diving and surfacing drills in a sub and also drill for entering and leaving harbour, which we loved. Then we realised why they had us harnessed in, they said we could dive and they would adjust the "swell" of the sea on the surface. Now being ex RN myself and had done quite a lot of sailing in the southern ocean after leaving the RN i was ok with the swell to a point, then i began to feel the affects, partly because i couldnt focus on any "horizon" and the full greasy spoon breakfast i had had only a few hours earlier. Anyway i did manage to keep mine down, unlike two of the others in the group. It seems that the instructors do this to everyone who has a stint in there and they had the buckets ready too. It was quite amazing to feel the seasickness affect come on but knowing your not at sea. After about an hour of messing around "under the sea" they let us do an emergency surface which was great. After the simulator they took us into the reactor simulator, which we were fairly familiar with the controls and safety devices, however one big red switch in the middle of the control panel caught our eyes, which are not never fitted to land based commercial reactors.....so we just had to ask the question, "whats that?" the standard answer was, "If i tell you what that does i shall have to kill you". They did tell us its function but im sworn to secrecy so cant tell you. you can probably hazard a good guess though....
Not much help to the OP i know as i doubt they still do these "jollies" anymore, but still a great experience to have.
You'll be referring to the switch that electrifies the hull of course - you know to keep the giant octopuses at bay; that and Greenpeace protesters. Not much help to the OP i know as i doubt they still do these "jollies" anymore, but still a great experience to have.
OP Liverpool submarine museum is what you need
http://www.liverpool.com/art/submarine-museum-open...
There's also midget sub X7 at Duxford:
http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.12...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67307569@N00/23106302...
Lots in America if you're going that way!
www.nautilus571.com/submarine_as_a_museum.htm
http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.12...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67307569@N00/23106302...
Lots in America if you're going that way!
www.nautilus571.com/submarine_as_a_museum.htm
Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 25th February 12:24
Dr_gn. this is exactly what im wanting to see!
my fear came from me as a young boy, seeing these boats in a dry dock somewhere down south. portsmouth or plymouth.
we sailed to france (south i think, and maybe 15yrs ago) and the dock had quite a few frigates, carriers and destroyers. my dad was trying to scare me with the submarines saying they were lurking in the deep, under our ferry and that they could shoot us at ant time. bear in mind he also said they were killer sharks and octopus
but even now, the thought of these things lurking around (especially with astutes capability) is still a frightening thought.
my fear came from me as a young boy, seeing these boats in a dry dock somewhere down south. portsmouth or plymouth.
we sailed to france (south i think, and maybe 15yrs ago) and the dock had quite a few frigates, carriers and destroyers. my dad was trying to scare me with the submarines saying they were lurking in the deep, under our ferry and that they could shoot us at ant time. bear in mind he also said they were killer sharks and octopus
but even now, the thought of these things lurking around (especially with astutes capability) is still a frightening thought.
Plymouth Navy Days, get there early and run to the Submarine bit to book your space on the (limited) sub tours. Dad and I went for a look around HMS Spartan a couple of years ago, I was seriously impressed at the size of it inside!
They loaded us in through the forward missile loading hatch I think it was, it was amusing watching the obese woman in front of me trying to fit through the gap!
They loaded us in through the forward missile loading hatch I think it was, it was amusing watching the obese woman in front of me trying to fit through the gap
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