HMS Iron Duke's crew practise man overboard drills – but what does it involve?
A video posted online has shown crew members of the Royal Navy's Type 23 Duke class frigate, HMS Iron Duke practising their MOB or 'man overboard drills'.
The training, which took place at sea, shows a sailor wearing a bright orange suit and jumping from the deck of the warship.
The official account of HMS Iron Duke posted images on X with the caption: "Our swimmer of the watch making a splash! Man overboard drills are a whole ship activity that keep us safe at sea in the @RoyalNavy."
What are 'man overboard drills' and why the need to practise?
When someone falls overboard and is witnessed, the immediate action is that the observer shouts "man overboard, man overboard" and points at the spot where the person was observed to go into the water.
They should immediately throw any life buoy rings into the water also.
When the ship's bridge is informed then they will make an immediate announcement over the ship's tannoy.
Any members of the crew who are on the up deck who witness the person falling overboard are meant to keep pointing at the point in the sea where they believe the person is so during the drill you see multiple people pointing at the same spot.
The ship then does an unusual turn, called a Williamson turn, where it changes direction for a short time by 60°.
Following this, the ship does a hard turn in the opposite direction which brings it back so it is pointing opposite to its original track, facing down its own wake.
The Swimmer of the Watch is part of Royal Navy basic training and, during their shift, they are prepared to rapidly get into an orange immersion suit in case of emergencies.
An immersion suit is designed to protect the user's body from the effects of unintended immersion into cold water, prolong life and aid rescue. It does this by reducing the risk of cold shock and delaying the onset of hypothermia.
The crew will launch a rigid inflatable boat as soon as possible once the ship has arrived at the man overboard location to pick them up.
If the sea state is above level 5 – sea state is the general condition of the sea with respect to wind, waves and swell – then it is possibly too dangerous to launch the boat because of the likelihood of it overturning.
This is when the swimmer will jump in attached to a rope. They will swim on their back to the man overboard and then both will be pulled back to the ship.
The technique for correctly jumping into water, according to BFBS Forces News' Tim Cooper, is to stay looking straight ahead and step off while keeping your flippers pointing downwards.
Royal Navy ships are meant to practise this drill frequently.
HMS Iron Duke was launched on 2 March 1991 and was commissioned to the fleet in May 1993.
The 133 metre (436 ft) warship previously saw action off Libya in 2011, destroying a gun battery outside the besieged town of Misrata.
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