Defence Online

HMS Triumph retakes place on front line

Maritime September 12, 2016

Following an extensive period in maintenance and a number of equipment upgrades, HMS Triumph has retaken her place on the front line.

The path from maintenance to operations was not an easy one and Triumph has had to endure an intense period of training to earn her place alongside the other operational units of the Royal Navy.

The regeneration process started long before the submarine put to sea. Prior to the officers and ratings being allowed to leave the jetty in a multimillion-pound submarine, they must first prove themselves safe in one the Royal Navy’s submarine simulators.

These simulators are a replica of a submarine control room and they allow the Command Team to be put through their paces in a safe environment. During this period they will conduct practice torpedo and Tomahawk missile firings, as well as proving that they can keep the submarine safe in busy shipping situations.

The time in the simulator culminated in a one-day assessment, where senior officers from the Royal Navy’s Flag Officer Sea Training Organisation assessed Triumph’s team as being ‘safe for sea’.

With the shore assessments complete and the maintenance finished, the crew were allowed to proceed to sea for the next phase of training. After a short period under the waves getting used to sea-going routines again, the Flag Officer Sea Training Staff were once again called upon to train and assess the crew.

The first challenge for Triumph was to prove to her guests that she could keep herself safe during peacetime evolutions. To do this the embarked staff simulated a range of credible scenarios for the crew to tackle, from simple fires to hydraulic bursts and electrical failures.

Now certified as ‘safe for sea’ HMS Triumph’s next challenge was the successful discharge of six practice torpedoes. These are fired to prove both the abilities of the crew and the equipment used to fire them. The weapons are fired at dummy targets, which are used to simulate both surface and submarine targets.

Passing everything that has been thrown at her, Triumph is now officially ready for the front line, ready to undertake tasking around the globe.

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Command Team Flag Officer Sea Training Organisation Flag Officer Sea Training Staff HMS Triumph maintenance Ministry of Defence MOD Royal Navy submarine UK United Kingdom

Post written by: Domhnall MacInnes

I am a features writer for MOD DCB magazine and Defence Online and a Content Marketing Executive with BiP Solutions.