Cold War Royal Navy Diesel Submarine officer during the 1960s and 70s (167) - a podcast by Ian Sanders

Commander Rob Forsyth joined submarines in1961. By March 1962 as a young officer, he joined HMS Auriga a 1945 vintage diesel submarine. Within 7 months the 22-year-old was loading live torpedoes and preparing for a war mission during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Robs tell of many fascinating incidents in his career including under-ice operations and an incident where Rob's captain made an error that almost resulted in the total loss of submarine and crew.He also details what it was like to take the Submarine Commanding Officers’ Qualifying Course aka “The Perisher”. This six-month course is a prerequisite for the command of a submarine. Failure means your submarine career “perishes”.
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There’s further information on this episode in our show notes which canalso be found as a link in your podcast app here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode167/
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Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations0:00 Introduction
1:15 Guest Introduction: Rob Forsyth, Royal Navy Veteran7:15 Submarine Training and the Cuban Missile Crisis Experience
16:04 Recollection of Near-Miss Submarine Incidents18:10 Deployment to Canada and Leisure Time in Bermuda
22:17 Lessons from Under Ice Operations and Handling Submarine in Icy Conditions28:47 Work on Sound Propagation in Water and Anti-Submarine Training
33:47 Trimmed Down Submarine and Operation Differences in War and Peace Mode37:33 Life in the Far East Fleet and Goodwill Visits
46:23 Experience of Perisher and the Realities of Submarine Command1:00:41 Maintaining Morale and Teamwork During Crisis
1:05:00 Acknowledgment of the Patrons and Episode ConclusionChapters powered by PodcastAI✨
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