Steve Thorpe – Understanding Surface Abandonment

Simon: And that was if you were at the Tank, the SETT, then you were also SPAG or was it some people didn’t do both?

The majority were parachute trained, the majority. But some of them used to be co-pilots for the Rescue Vehicle back then, which was LR5, so there was a couple that were nominated to be co-pilots for the Rescue Vehicle, but the majority were Submariner Parachutists.

Simon: And the Rescue Vehicle, is that because … can you explain what the Rescue Vehicle is?

So, there’s a number of areas that happen. In current day, the preferred methos of escape is for the submarine to get to the surface and jump over the side. Surface Abandonment that’s called. The second preferred method is to sit on the bottom and wait. The current day Rescue Vehicle is called NSRS, which is a tri-nation consortium between us, Norway and France, it’s kept in Faslane, operated by James Fisher Defence. That can basically be mobilised within a 24-hour period and can rescue people down to 610 metres.