CDR Salamander - Royal Navy Submarine Legacy’s Sad Deathbed

Some posts are just sad to write, but they are often the ones you need to write. It is no fun watching a friend intentionally and deliberately destroy themselves for no reason. I guess it is time to pick up the conversation we had back in March and June.

When I first saw this, I thought, ‘This is reporting from The Sun. Just tabloid trash.’

Not a single submarine commander passed the legendary Perisher course last year.

…

Only three were selected to attempt it, with two failing at the simulator stage.

Surface ships fared little better with less than ten officers passing the command qualification known as CQ2.

The Navy needs 35 passes a year to sustain its sea commands.

Sources say the only reason the shortage has not affected operations is because so many ships have been scrapped or stuck in port for repairs.

But no, it isn’t. Navy Lookout and others with very reliable track records are on it too.

Senior naval sources told Defence Eye that the Royal Navy has not run a Submarine Command Course, which qualifies officers to take command of its submarines, since December 2024.

The course, popularly known as ‘The Perisher’, dates back to World War One and is famous for its high standards and realistic training exercises. It has long been considered the ‘gold standard’ of submarine officer training, with navies from around the world sending officers to participate in the course.

For the past two years, the Royal Navy Astute-class fleet has been hit by a series of breakdowns and a long maintenance backlog. This year alone, it has only been able to put one boat, HMS Anson, to sea for a four month-long cruise to Australia. Since she returned to Devonport naval base for repairs in May no Astute boats have been recorded as going to sea.

With no boats available for operational tasking, it is not a surprise that training has had to be put on the back burner by the Royal Navy. The naval source briefed Defence Eye on the status of the Perisher Course in response to criticism from Australia, that the UK was unable to generate trained personnel to operate its submarines to meet its commitments under the AUKUS deal.

“Since [December 2024], three officers have successfully qualified for command through allied submarine command courses, including programmes delivered by Norway and Australia,” said the source. He suggested that the Royal Navy submarine availability crisis was soon to turn a corner, commenting, that “the next UK Perisher Course is due to commence next month, with a further candidate scheduled to undertake the Norwegian course in January.”

What submarines the British do have don’t get much underway time. You can’t be the best at something—or at least moderately competent—if you don’t actually do it. I don’t fault those who failed.

There is no serious person who thinks there is the political or economic ability right now for a serious recovery in British military capability at sea or ashore, regardless of who gives what speech. How much further can it fall? Things can always get worse, but all the wiggle room is gone.

Most are familiar with the rolling train wreck that is the once exemplary British submarine industrial capability. Even their closest Commonwealth allies have concerns. The admittedly challenged US submarine industrial base will have to carry the AUKUS load.

All of Britain’s traditional allies and partners over the last century assumed that, should war come, they could rely on even a diminished Royal Navy to come over the horizon to help. That time is long past. Everyone needs to reconsider that assumption. Though Britain may have the desire at some point, it just doesn’t have the ability to provide anything more than token assistance from here on out.

On paper, the Royal Navy today has 10 submarines: six SSN and four SSBN. Only a small fraction of those are combat-ready or could be made combat-ready in a reasonable time.

The US Navy today has 81 submarines: 53 fast attack submarines, 14 ballistic-missile submarines and four guided-missile submarines.

In the mid-1980s, at the height of the Cold War, the Royal Navy had 32+/- submarines:

• 4 SSBN

• 28 SSN and SSK patrol submarines.

At the same time, the US Navy had roughly 138 submarines:

• 37 SSBN

• 97 SSN

• 4 SSK

The Royal Navy’s relative collapse is shocking. Since the mid-1980s, the US Navy’s submarine force has shrunk to 59% of its 1985 level. The Royal Navy’s submarine force has shrunk to 31% of its 1985 level. Today, the Royal Navy should have at least five more submarines in service if they paced the US Navy’s post-Cold War drawdown.

Back to the Perisher course. Here’s the BBC documentary on it from 1985. There were enough people in the course to have a proper dinner.

Now?

Sad.

Behold the land where giants once tread—the Royal Navy Midshipman Salamander remembers.

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