Jim Perks – Doing Part 3

Simon: How was your Part 3?

Intense. That’s probably, and I include Perisher in this, the most difficult phase of my entire career for me. Learning I think it’s 34 different systems, you’re supposed to know what each valve did, how they all interacted together, you had to go back aft and understand the Reactor Plant and the engines and how we make air, how we make water.

I don’t have that background; I don’t have a scientific background at all. It was fascinating but I found it difficult to just understand and back then you were kind of left on your own. You were given a book and said, “Off you go Perks, sort your life out.”

You know there were some people that simply didn’t talk to you. If you weren’t wearing dolphins, you weren’t wort talking to, in the Ward Room. I mean one of the Engineers didn’t say a bloody word to me, and nowadays you just don’t get away with that, and it was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, but back then it somehow felt right.

And you weren’t allowed to watch a movie in the evening. Ooh no, unless you were actually putting the reel-to-reel movie on, which in itself is an engineering challenge, rolling reel changes and all the Submariners will be giggling and film all the way down the corridor.

So, Part 3, I found difficult. I did end up putting quite a few movies on and sneaking a Watch but you’re just not … you’re part of a crew but you’re not, you’re a Trainee, very much and as I say you’re left to get on, ask questions and … you ask a Submariner a question about the system, they will not stop talking, and as you can tell, I haven’t stopped talking for the last however long we’ve been going.

We love talking about what it is that we do, but again it was the volume really of information. So, that’s the first bit and then you have to get each system ticked off and then you do a walk round for’ard and a walk round aft, the after one with a Senior Engineer, the for’ard one with the 2nd in Command which can be about anything.

Really concentrating on the layout of the boat, the systems, and then as an Officer, there’s an additional very big hurdle and that’s the Officer of the Day part of it. The Captain needs to be able to trust that when there’s no one else onboard, you are his representative, so they need to know that you know what to do if there’s a fire or problem with the reactor or a weapon, or a disciplinary case or a VIP suddenly appears. So, that’s another level of learning that you have to go and do.