Divers and engineers win award after carrying out crucial underwater repairs on submarine
Royal Navy divers and submariners have been given a prestigious award after performing complex underwater repairs that allowed a hunter-killer submarine to continue with her mission for an extra six months.
The work carried out by the marine engineers and members of Charlie Squadron from the Diving and Threat Exploitation Group meant HMS Audacious did not need to leave her station and go into a dry dock.
The personnel were commended for their ingenuity in solving engineering challenges that allowed the sub to continue her deployment in the Mediterranean.
The personnel worked inside partially flooded ballast tanks, which are critical for keeping the submarine afloat, and made repairs on the mechanism which sits just above the waterline.
This meant they had no natural ventilation or lighting and had a maximum headroom of just one metre.
The team members, who completed the repair in 19 days, allowing the submarine to stay on deployment for a further six months, received the prestigious Churchill Medal Award from The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
A repair of such scale and intricacy had only ever been attempted in a dry dock, but given the importance of the submarine's mission in the Med, it was unacceptable for the boat to be unavailable.
The advanced hunter-killer submarine was on operations for two days short of a year, making it the longest ever deployment of an Astute-class submarine.
Commander James Howard, the commanding officer of HMS Audacious, said the dedication, innovation and engineering professionalism shown by the team was "truly outstanding".
"Their actions made a direct and significant contribution to operational availability and strategic capability, and they are considered highly worthy of recognition," he said.
The nomination for The Churchill Medal Award said: "The team's ability to deliver such a precise repair with limited support in incredibly challenging conditions and with considerable operational constraints displayed outstanding levels of dedication, exacting engineering standards and ultimate professionalism under significant pressure.
"It is a testament to the team's technical prowess that they efficiently delivered an enduring repair which restored the system to design intent and delivered correct operation throughout the remainder of the deployment."
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