A Boat Trip With A Twist: Dartmouth Locals Get Involved With Officer Cadet Training

It’s not often that the public get to experience Navy life first hand, but lucky Dartmouth locals were able to get a glimpse today as part of the Officer Cadets' final exercise.

The assessed exercise involved 60 Officer Cadets escorting a passenger ferry down the River Dart, however, this was no quiet river cruise as the escort involved an exciting fictional attack.

Today’s safe passage scenario was the last of several tasks the Officer Cadets need to complete in order to start their Naval careers.

Leadership Training Officer, Lt Sean Hammond praised the practice saying:

“Guys come down and get that little extra to their boat trip to Totness.”

The interaction of the public helps to create the most realistic situation as possible.

Lt Sean Hammond went on to say: “Essentially working with a ferry boat company gives these guys a different dynamic interaction.

"We make the scenarios as realistic as possible as at some point in their career they may go and do a ferry escort or a safe passage for a refugee vessel."

With only two hours to highlight their command skills capabilities, the pressure is on for Britannia Royal Naval College cadets who are nearing the end of their 30-week training.

Officer Cadet Piers Benson said at the event:

"This is week 28 for us so there's a lot of nerves kicking in, there's a lot of work come into this to reach this point."

The exercise named Marl takes place several times a year and lasts for five days, so similar spectacles have become a regular feature on the river.

Successful candidates from today will be joining the fleet later this month for their second phase of training.