Colin Clarke – Explaining the camaraderie of the Submarine Service

Simon: Can you describe or encapsulate that camaraderie?

I suppose it’s best encompassed with the fact that just when you come alongside, say you’re doing a Port visit, just because you don’t work with these people day in and day out, you’re going to have a beer with them. Wouldn’t think twice about not drinking with them, for example.

Doesn’t matter whether they’re an Engineer, one of the Chefs etc, just because they’re not your normal Watch Keeping buddies, and that 6-hour clique that you get at other tightness with, it’s just something you do without thinking.

And actually it’s quite a nice release to talk to somebody else, they’re your ship’s mates, but you’ve not really spoken to them for 3 months because they go and work back aft, you see them in the Mess Room for a meal but you don’t get to have those long sort of quiet moment discussions where you might get into something, dare I say it, a bit philosophical and set the world to rights, but now you can do that over a pint or whatever, so yeah, definitely something that I think in the Submarine Service, it doesn’t matter which particular Branch you are, what your job is onboard, you are much more likely to have this bond that … you potentially don’t get in the Surface Ships world.