Submarine Escape Training

I joined the Submarine Service in July 1959. The shore based HMS Dolphin training was (I think) eight/ten weeks, mostly classroom stuff. However, the thought on my mind and indeed on all my classmates minds, was the escape tank. This part of the training took part in the closing days of the course. We talked about it a lot, and of course we heard many stories (never factual)of disasters in the 100 foot tank. The first morning dressed in swimming trunks we gathered at the top of the tank. Each in turn let go of the tank rim and sank, most sank about 15 feet then resurfaced. This was to determine if we were buoyant, some sailors had high density bones and negative buoyant our trainers need to know this.. Next we were taken down the outside of the tank to 30foot level. On the side was what was called a blister, each candidate entered and made a free accent to the surface. This was then repeated at the 60 foot level. Then came the dreaded 100 foot accent, but first we were tested in a re-pressure chamber to be sure we could equalize the pressure in our eardrums. No danger here, if someone was in trouble the high pressure air could be reduced until the person cleared his ears. Finally we entered the chamber under the tower, it was designed like a submarine compartment. The first thing the instructor told us was once the flooding started it couldn’t be stopped. There was now only one way out!! It was important to keep the pressure in our ear drums ahead of the growing air pressure as we flooded the compartment. If anyone failed he would burst his ear drums. My fear was mixed, I was frantically blowing to keep my ears ahead of the pressure. At the same time aware my turn to enter the escape hatch was getting ever closer. During the flooding we had to breath through a mouth piece, calls BIBS, built in breathing system. These hung down from an over head air line and we stood inline awaiting our turn. As one left the escape trunk he dropped his bibs and the next person picked it up and so on down the line. When my turn arrived I took the deepest breath of my life and ducked under the trunk at the bottom of one hundred feet of water. The danger was we were breathing high pressure air which if we held our breath would burst our lungs on the rise to the surface
We were taught to blow out air all the way to the surface, similar to whistling. There were instructors in the tank carefully watching us, if someone stopped blowing out he might get a swift punch in the gut. It was an amazing experience, and once out of the hatch not at all scary. I raced to the surface at an amazing speed, perhaps twenty seconds. During my submarine career I re qualified once in 1963, the second time around was not so fearful. These days (some 58 years later) I still proudly wear my dolphins and have great pride to call myself a Royal Navy Submariner




Author of LILY & ME , and THE ROYAL NAVY & ME
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