Navigators undergo special training

Mar 15 2013

A Royal Navy frigate has been sailing through challenging waters around the UK to provide specialist training for a team of navigators.

Among the routes undertaken by HMS Richmond has been the narrow waters of the strait of Kyle Akin which separates the Scottish mainland from the Isle of Skye.

Seven students from the Maritime Warfare School Navigation Training Unit at HMS Collingwood in Fareham, Hampshire, have been undergoing the training on the Portsmouth-based ship which has returned to UK waters from training in Norway.

The students are already trained Royal Navy navigators but the specialist course will qualify them to navigate capital ships such as HMS Illustrious and flagship Bulwark as well as task groups and give navigation instruction to fellow sailors.

Commander Rob Pedre, commanding officer of HMS Richmond, which is affiliated to its namesake towns in both North Yorkshire and Surrey, said: "We were delighted to embark the specialist navigation course in Richmond and to conduct some of the finest navigation sea training in the world.

"This intensive course has also provided excellent training for my bridge and tactical communications teams in readiness for our forthcoming deployment."