Midge Ure – Camaraderie of submariners

Simon: On the sort of camaraderie within the boat and within the Submarine Service as a whole, how would you sum that up? How would you describe it?

If you meet a Submariner anywhere, you’ll quite happily have a drink with them. You might not have a long-lasting friendship with them.

Simon: Just UK Forces or …?

No, Submariners worldwide, and I think that was shown no more so than when the San Juan went down a few years ago, the Argentinian. So, whenever there’s a submarine, it doesn’t matter whether they’re Russian, Chinese, Argentinian, American, you know it doesn’t matter what your allegiances are. In time of peace, if a submarine was to go down, it’s almost felt across … like the Kursk, those things are felt across the entire … they’re felt across the world ‘cos everybody hears them on the News, but as a Submariner, you really feel like, Jesus, you put yourself almost instantly in that position because you spend … you don’t spend all your time on a submarine wondering what if, but there must be moments when you’re away thinking ‘what would I do, how would get out of here, what would happen? There are so many dangers.

So, if I met a Submariner down the Bar, like I say, you’re not always going to like a person but you have that mutual respect. They’ve gone through what you’ve done, they’ve been there, they’ve seen the family, you know they’ve gone away from their family, they’ve been at sea, they’ve lived the life style, they’ve gone through what you’ve gone through, and I find that some of the people that I have most respect for and have great friendships now with, are people who have served onboard submarines with me, because you’ve been away in those moments and you’ve sat like you and I, across the table from each other.