northumbrian universities royal naval unit
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Northumbrian Universities Royal Naval Unit Alumni Newsletter Winter 2012
Welcome to NURNU and HMS EXAMPLE’s Alumni Newsletter for 2012/13. As you are aware I think it is of great importance to keep you informed of our current activities so that you can continue to see us thrive and so that we can keep you
abreast of our forthcoming social events as well as hopefully take you on a pleasant trip down Memory
Lane!
Since I joined in October 2011
it has been an immensely enjoyable and rewarding year, which has seen us deploy not just around the UK but also into the Baltic, venturing as far afield as St Petersburg in Russia! We have also demonstrated our sporting prowess at the annual Inter URNU sports weekend, despite not winning the trophy we certainly put in a great
performance! In between hosting numerous visitors to both the Ship and the unit we have had another successful recruitment process, and also enjoyed a wide range of social events, including a charity Halloween party and Trafalgar Night Dinner, boasting some
excellent sea shanties!
The forthcoming year promises to be just as productive with a wide range of events planned not just as sea but also within the unit. For now though I hope you enjoy this newsletter and I look forward to meeting you at
our Ball in the New Year!
Lt CM Strawbridge RN Commanding Officer HMS EXAMPLE OiC Northumbrian URNU 0191 4909605 / 077 489 32786
Foreword From the Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Chantal Strawbridge
Contact
Phone:0191 477 5584 Email: [email protected] @NorthumbrianURNU
HMS Example
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
The new committee has hit
the ground running with a
fantastic Traf’ night organised
by the new social secretary
Alexandra Forth which, as
ever, had a great atmosphere
and was a good chance for
the first years to integrate
with the existing members.
Copious amounts of port
helped this along to a certain
extent as well! The stash
orders are being handled by
Emma Morton who, like
Obama, is now entering her
second term of office.
Chris Pascoe takes the most
important job in any mess as
bar manager. Josh Pearce has
been maintaining the
operational security against
the likes of Al Qaeda by
taking up the mantle of IT
manager, a position created
last year by Luke Burton.
NURNU is going to bring back
tons of medals now Charlotte
Edmondson is Sporto and
hopefully not have our flag
stolen like last year! The PR of
the unit is now the
responsibility of Megan Cox.
Sceptre division has been left
in the capable hands of Elisa
Tindale and she has been
guiding her new students
through the perils of
Dartmouth and the new entry
weekend, where they did so
well they got mentioned on
the Royal Navy Facebook
group needless to say lots of
encouragement was left for
them. Elisa also takes over
responsibilities of organising
the charitable events that
NURNU will be involved in
over the year.
James Dewing has had to fill
the massive boots of Thomas
Good to become the new DO
of Northumberland Division,
whilst Tom himself has taken
on the responsibility of
Dauntless DO. A new breath
of life has been blown in to
the position of vice by Alex
Townsend-Rose. Last but by
no means least of the SMID
himself, the Rogue of Redcar,
Andrew O’Connor.
The New Committee Thomas Good
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
Whilst the UK was preparing for the London 2012 Olympics HMS EXAMPLE along with HMS RANGER, TRUMPETER AND EXPLORER was tasked with providing maritime training to students from not just Northumbrian, Yorkshire, Sussex and Cambridge Universities Royal Naval Units but also from those units providing support to the London 2012 Olympics. Taking advantage of the extended duration of the Summer deployment, the four P2000s ventured deep into the Baltic, covering in excess of 15,000 nm between them over five, two week long phases of deployment, enabling 200 URNU Students to experience the maritime environment with this valuable sea time.
Our journey commenced at
Gravesend on the Thames as the
standby
P2000 for
the Queen’s
Diamond
Jubilee
Pageant,
prior to the
four Ships
conducting a
ceremonial
rendezvous in the vicinity of
Goodwin Sands and heading south
east towards the first port of call of
Bruges, Belgium. Enthusiasm and
morale were particularly high
considering the requirement for foul
weather gear rather than sun screen
as the Ships spent the first week
heading east towards Kiel. The
weather improved as we entered
the Kiel canal and the Ships made
most of the calm, sunny weather
to ensure they looked their very
best prior to arrival at Kiel where
we joined the convoy of Ships
from numerous nations including
Germany, Poland, United States of
America, Russia, Norway, Holland,
Denmark to name just a few, for the
Entering Port ceremony.
Representing the Royal Navy,
alongside HMS ST ALBANS, the
Ship’s company and students were
proud to take part in the Kiel Week
Remembrance services and wreath
laying ceremonies as well as
enjoying the social aspects on offer.
Finally exhausted from the
generosity offered throughout Kiel
Week the Task Group headed into
the Baltic visiting Flensburg, home
to the German Naval Academy
before transiting towards Sweden
where we took the opportunity for
a four Ship Splice the Mainbrace
courtesy of the Queen in
celebration of her Diamond Jubilee.
Heading north along the Swedish
coast under Ȍlands Bridge the
crystal clear, but deceptively cold
waters were the ideal location for
an impromptu hands to bathe,
before embarking Commander 1PBS
Squadron, Cdr Sue Moore, to
conduct an assurance visit and
continuing further north to
Stockholm. Glorious weather
prevailed as the Ships benefited
from plenty of navigation training,
Officer of the Watch manoeuvres
and shipping reports enroute along
the Swedish and Finnish coastlines
before entering Russian territorial
waters. With subtle scenery
differences this brought about new
challenges, namely the ability to be
understood and to understand the
required VHF calls! However the
four Ships made history visiting the
small port of Vyborg before our
furthest eastern destination, the
long awaited St Petersburg! Visa
regulations precluded an extended
visit so after being hosted by the
Defence Consul it was as all too
soon time to once again commence
our journey west visiting ports in
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with a
number of official visitors both at
sea and alongside before embarking
COMPORFLOT, Commodore Michael
Cochrane and making history by
being the first British Warships to
visit the beautiful seaside resort of
Hel (Poland)!
Summer Deployment
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
Our journey continued in glorious
weather along the Polish and
German coasts, prior to transiting
the Kiel canal and visiting the small
island of Helgoland, which provided
the perfect sunshine paradise island
for one of the final visits – boasting
glorious sunshine, a fabulous beach
and stunning views from the top of
the 60m high island formed from
red sedimentary rock it was the
perfect place to relax (and
consolidate task books!) prior to the
final day of in company time
enroute to Den Helder for our last
visit as a Task Group. From here we
dispersed and commenced the long
transit home across the North Sea.
After 11 weeks together and having
visited in excess of 40 ports across
11 countries it was finally time to
proceed alongside for the final time,
destore Ship and conduct a final set
of Captain’s Rounds before a well
deserved break after such a unique
and successful P2000 Summer Baltic
deployment.
Summer Deployment – Continued
On Sunday 26th February, Durham
University Rifle club hosted the Uni-
versity Interservices shooting com-
petition. Teams of 4 from the North-
umbrian University Royal Naval Unit,
Northumbrian University Air Squad-
ron and the Durham University Rifle
Club competed in a range of disci-
plines including grouping, rapid and
snap shooting.
After the first round, the competi-
tion was looking tight between the
NURNU and DURC, O/C Balston of
NURNU scoring well, and with the
NUAS trailing. However with an
astonishing shoot from NUAS in
round two and a disappointing per-
formance from NURNU, NUAS were
back in the match. Undiscovered hot
shot O/C Lodge of NURNU replied to
this turn of events with a fantastic
shoot, setting one of the highest
individual scores of the match and
putting the NURNU well ahead of
the NUAS leaving the Team Captain
O/C Lidgitt to bring home the inter-
services prize for the NURNU with a
strong finish.
Final Scores (out of 440):
1st DURC: 231
2nd NURNU: 215
3rd NUAS: 187
DURC was relegated for the inter-
service competition.
Congratulations to everyone in the
team: Mid Balston, O/C Tuckley, O/C
Lodge and O/C Lidgitt and the bril-
liant supporter O/C Campbell who
provided inspiring banter between
shoots.
Inter-Services Shooting Competition
Murray Lidgitt
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
NURNU’s preparations began early
in the year for this greatly
anticipated sporting event, with
weekly team training and fitness
sessions underway weeks in
advance. Team morale was sky
high as we made the journey
down to Portsmouth and settled
in on HMS Bristol raring for the
days ahead!
Saturday morning brought jittery
stomachs, excitement and a good
full English to fuel our players.
With our very own Angel of the
North (Mid Reid) in tow the sports
fixtures kicked off with the rugby.
Unfortunately the outcome was
not as planned in the rugby with
no silverware being won and a
defeat at the hands of Yorkshire.
Despite this, the team put in some
good performances and worked
well together on the pitch.
The netball team were dealt an
unfortunate hand by way of their
first opponents, Southampton
URNU were a strong side and a
tough match was sure to be
ahead. NURNU held their own
with a strong opening
performance from the team;
however Southampton proved to
have the edge over us, winning
the game and going on to win the
tournament. This meant that
NURNU was relegated to the plate
league with several matches still
to play. NURNU outperformed the
other teams to reach the plate
trophy final where their effort and
hard over months of training
shone through and helped NURNU
take home the plate.
The Royal Navy’s favourite sport,
bucketball, is also a favourite
amongst NURNU students and this
year we were fielding a strong
team and setting our sights on a
podium position. Despite a good
opening performance the team
was knocked into the plate trophy
league. From here on the teams
performances only grew stronger
and with some outstanding
defensive play by Mid Haigh and
O/C Adreniran, to name a few,
NURNU breezed into the plate
final. It seemed appropriate that
our opposition in the final were
arch rivals Wales and after a fierce
battle NURNU had another plate
to add to the collection!
A mention must go to the sterling
effort made by this year’s rowers,
Mid Dewing and Mid Tindale, who
placed fourth overall in a task of
determination and endurance.
This event was particularly difficult
as the opposition’s times were
kept secret, however in true
NURNU style the pair were
supported and encouraged by
other members of the unit
throughout. Congratulation also to
Mid Forth and O/C Campbell for
placing tenth in the dinghy sailing
after some eventful racing!
Although our Hockey team may
have been lacking somewhat in
experience this year, we more
than made up for it in enthusiasm
on the pitch! Sadly, there were
some excellent teams fielded in
the tournament whose
understanding of the game shone
through. Hopefully next year with
a little more practise we’ll be
tallying up the goals!
The social followed an Olympic
theme this year, with NURNU
making up the equestrian team
and a fantastic effort was made by
all. Once again we showed the
other units how to play hard and
party hard! As the weekend drew
to a close and the points were
totted up, NURNU had placed
eleventh out of fourteen units and
we hope to even better next year!
Sports Weekend Charlotte Edmondson
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
This Easter I had the great
privilege of attending the
URNU Easter Flying Camp at
RNAS Yeovilton where I
completed a two week special
flying award with 727 sqn
flying the Grob Tutor aircraft.
As I was interested in
pursuing a career in aviation,
the course provided the
perfect opportunity to learn
more about the fleet air arm
and naval aviation.
A packed two weeks
included 8 hours flight time as
well as visits to front line
squadrons operating from the
base with opportunities to
meet pilots and observers as
well as view the aircraft. The
first week comprised of
learning the basics of flight in
a classroom environment
then putting the new
knowledge into practice in
the air with sorties lasting
between 30mins and 1hr
15mins. The most exciting
being the aerobatics sortie in
which I executed moves such
as the loop, barrel roll and
stall turn, luckily no sick bags
were filled during the flight!
Visits were made to 815 sqn
operating the Lynx Mk8
aircraft, 846 sqn operating
the Sea King Mk4 and the
NFSF (FW) Naval Flying
Standards Flight Fixed Wing
operating the Hawk aircraft.
Tours of each squadron were
conducted as well as tours of
their aircraft and the chance
to sit in the flight seats in the
helicopters of 815 and 846
Sqn’s.
Accommodation was
provided at the wardroom
HMS Heron, where I shared a
cabin with a member of the
Sussex Unit. The wardroom
bar provided an excellent
place to get to know each
other and build friendships as
well as play countless games
of pool and darts, some
better than others!
The second week started
with a 0900 circuit training
session in the bases gym with
a PTI. The session was tough
but also a great way to wake
up and get in to the zone
ready for the new week. My
personal highlight was
planning then executing an
air navigation exercise around
the local airspace, all of the
hard work calculating speed
distance time over the
weekend paid off as the flight
went perfectly to plan.
Easter Flying Camp Oliver Gordon
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
The annual URNU Ski trip is one not to miss out on, with 6 great days on the slopes and plenty of socials to fill in the gaps. With over 70 URNU members participating and a strong attendance with 9 NURNU members, ranging from complete beginners to experienced skiers and snowboarders.
This year Avoriaz was the chosen resort, located in the heart of the Portes du Soleil ski area. Avoriaz is unique due to its fully pedestrianized streets allowing you to ski straight from the door of your accommodation.
After a long coach journey from Newcastle we finally arrived in the Alps where the snow was falling heavily, already looking promising for the weeks skiing. After quickly finding our apartments we went to find a bar, to relax and prepare for the first day
on the slopes. Naturally, despite the extortionate drinks prices, this kept us entertained for many hours.
We woke up to find snow falling heavily and visibility very low, this wasn’t going to stop us from grabbing our kit and heading out to explore the area. Unfortunately this poor visibility continued for much of the week with a number of runs being closed due to avalanche risk, however this did produce some amazing conditions and infinite quantities of snow to enjoy.
One thing that I had been looking forward to was the mountain meal as I had heard some really good things about previous ones. Unfortunately this wasn’t memorable for the food but this wasn’t going to stop us having a good night. After the meal we skied down through glorious untouched powder, which is always a great experience in the dark.
The evening socials were a massive part of the trip. Most nights ended in the ‘Yeti Club’, the resorts only club.
The last day we awoke to a clear and sunny day which
meant that much more of the resort was open, allowing us to ski across the border to Switzerland. A great way to round off the trip before the journey home in time for Christmas.
Overall a trip thoroughly enjoyed by all involved, and I cannot wait until next December for Tignes 2012.
Avoriaz– Ski Trip Chris Pascoe
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
Ship's company and even some students looked resplendent in their beautifully pressed uniform gathered by the ensign of HMS Calliope clutching G&Ts under the fading summer sun. Dining the leavers out is an event always anticipated with mixed feelings because while it always proves to be one of the most memorable - or forgettable! - occasions in many of the students URNU experiences it signifies the end of an era; be that for those moving on to life as a graduate or to those staying behind and saying goodbye to graduating friends. Either way it's nothing that port doesn't cure by the end of the evening.
After the unit photograph was taken we moved into the wardroom for a fantastic dinner. Our departing SMid and Vice SMid then stood to
say a few words about the leavers. The reminiscing about each leaver in turn left no accolade unpraised and no gossip unrevisited. As there was a particularly large number of leavers this year it felt like we had gone over nearly every URNU memory for the last three years, but I still feel fairly confident that the dits could have continued well into the night. Eventually Janie and Dan managed to find something nice to say about everyone and wished each other and all of the leavers all the best for the future. Following this was the award giving to acknowledge the various achievements of the unit members over the previous year. Then it was the Boss’s turn to say a little something for the departing NURNU members, which she did in true style through the medium of poetry penned by the CO's own hand. The limerick covered the best stories and well wishes for the future of every leaving member of the unit and had everyone laughing and some crying by the end of it.
There ended the formal part of the evening and that which followed included mess games and other various messy activity that embodied the spirit of the social side to being an URNU member. Those that will remember the end of the night will know that it did not conclude with goodbyes but with promises that we'd all stay in touch and come back to visit because, hard though it may be to believe, URNU blood runs even thicker than the Tyne.
LDO Hannah Slater
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
We finally arrived and were shown
to our rooms, some were just 2
people, others were 6. We had 4
NURNU members and 2
Manchester URNU people in ours.
After unpacking our stuff and
stretching our legs we headed
down for a free 3-course meal
which was unbelievably welcome at
this point! After dinner we got
some time to relax and unpack
properly then headed to the lecture
room at 2200 to get given our foul
weather kit and name badges,
followed by a quick introduction to
BRNC. We also had some “snap”
lectures which were on topics
chosen and presented by students
at random. After this we headed
back to our cabins and began the
arduous task of polishing our shoes
and ironing our kit. For some
reason our room became some sort
of ironing factory, churning out
crease-free (ish) shirts, everyone
brought their irons and ironing
boards in. We finally got to bed
about 12:45am.
I never knew 5 O’clock could have
an AM after it instead of a PM! Up
at 0530 for a shower and kit prep,
then getting changed into our 3s
and heading to the Quarter Deck
for inspection at 0630. We were
victim to the 10minute rule, so
everything had to be 10minutes
earlier than the timetable.
Therefore breakfast had to be
inhaled in about 10minutes before
getting to the lecture theatre to
have some staff introductions –
during which our Coxswain
announced that NURNU is the best
URNU – too right; we were always
first for anything, including drinks!
We watched a video presentation
about the RN and then went off to
do our group exercises for the day.
My group was on the river in Motor
Whalers and Picket Boaters for 3
hours which was very relaxed and
fun to be a part of.
Another 3 course meal entailed for
lunch followed by parade training
for 1.5hours; learning how to march
properly and getting used to all the
commands and the expectations of
us. Afterwards we spent 1.5hours
doing PLTs which was very fun, and
entertaining. A group of officers
were laughing at my groups
attempt at one of the tasks but
afterwards tried it themselves, and
despite seeing 3 groups complete it,
they could not complete it
themselves – they all died several
times on the mines. We had a good
laugh at them, but it was all taken
in good spirit (thankfully). At 1700
we had a college tour around BRNC
and had a peak in the gift shop. We
then had time to get changed
before dinner at 1900.
After a tasty meal we headed to the
Pavilion for some drinks with the
officers in training and full time
naval officers. Mess games ensued
until it was time for us to return to
our cabins and start the arduous
task of prepping our kit for the next
day and attempt to get an earlier
night.
New Entry Weekend, Dartmouth Alex Sharp
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
Another 0530 start with the SMIDs
fresh looking face at the door
followed by another inspection and
the cleaning of our
accommodation. Breakfast was
inhaled again at 0800 and then my
group headed to the fitness centre
for our swimming test in huge
overalls that weighed more than I
thought they would! It was
definitely much harder than I
anticipated. Unfortunately straight
after was a 1.5mile run – certainly
not welcome after a full English
and a swim!
After a shower we headed to the
lecture theatre, returned our kit
and got praised for basically being
the number one URNU!
Despite an extremely long coach
journey back to Newcastle , the
visit was a fantastic experience and
thoroughly enjoyed by all.
New Entry Weekend, Dartmouth - Continued Alex Sharp
Throughout the year, the unit has received several visits from various ships and navy personnel. The first of these was Christmas 2011 when the ships company of HMS Mersey joined us for mess and games and drinks at the Christmas social.
Later on in the year the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious was berthed at Royal Quays, a group of recently passed out officers came for a drill night and gave us a brief on what to expect at Dartmouth as well as their personal experiences through-out their time in the navy so far. This visit was reciprocated later in the week when a few students and the commanding officer went on board Illustrious for a cocktail party and a great time was had by all, es-pecially when we were invited to join their ’Just Dance’ challenge!
In October 2012 the Commodore of the Portsmouth Flotilla, Commo-dore Hon Michael Cochren OBE Roy-al Navy, joined us for the night. After participating in pre drill sport
he took a question and answer ses-sion after lectures. It was interesting to gain the point of view of some-body who is significantly higher up in the navy’s chain of command. It was particularly enlightening to hear his views on the future of the armed forces and current conflicts and I think that everybody gained a great-er insight in to these issues.
The most recent visit that we had was from the river class ship, HMS Severn, some of the ships company came for a bucketball match prior to the drill night, despite it being a closely fought game they were vic-torious with a result of 18-16. Four of their officers also stayed for the remainder of the evening. They pro-vided us an insight in to the recruit-ment process as well as giving us information on their intended ca-reer paths with a particular focus on submarines. As well as this the fol-lowing day a small group of students went to North Shields to tour around HMS Severn.
Visiting Ships Megan Cox
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NURNU Newsletter Winter 2012
The students rowed the 48km from the Meeting of the Waters, where the north and south sources of River Tyne meet in Hexham to the Mouth in North Shields on concept rowing
machines.
Participants, many of whom had never rowed an inch in their lives before, completed their 4.4km share in sets of three on the machines right under the Ensign
at HMS Calliope.
NURNU's drill nights are held at the RNR building situated directly on the south bank of the Tyne, with the ship normally berthed directly between the Tyne Bridge and the Millennium Bridge; the students feel a special affinity to the river and so felt it fitting to complete the row outside under
the fading spring sunshine.
Taking a grand total of 3hours and 48minutes students were left with a feeling of thorough satisfaction and aching legs going into their Easter break, during which they plan to increase the current total of £451.46 so far raised for
Seafarers UK.
NURNU Rows the Tyne Hannah Slater
Upcoming Events
For 2012– 2013 it has been decided that
Northumbrian Universities Royal Naval
Unit will be supporting the following
charities;
Homeless Heroes
www.homelessheroes.co.uk
RN and RM Children’s Fund
www.rnrmchildrensfund.org.uk
RN and RM Charity
www.rnrmc.org.uk
Northumbrian University Royal Naval Unit Spring Ball 2013 Date:- Saturday, March 2nd 2013
Where:- St James Park. Newcastle
Dress code:- Black Tie and to include something that is either black and/or white
Price £40- including Reception drink, 3 course meal, DJ, photographer and Charity auction
For tickets, contact Tracey on 01914775584 or