SAC Scouts guests of the Royal Navy’s flagship

Captain Alex Burton of HMS Bulwark, the patron ship of St Aloysius College Scout Group, has again invited a number of our members to spend time at sea in his ship during the Affiliates Week.

One of the amphibious assault warships in the Royal Navy, HMS Bulwark has recently taken over the role of flagship.

For years, the group had been affiliated with HMS Fearless, another naval assault ship, until 2002, when she was withdrawn from active service.

In 2004, the group transferred its affiliation to the newly-commissioned HMS Bulwark, while attending the inauguration ceremony in Plymouth.

It is one of the most modern warships of the Royal Navy

Five leaders, two rover scouts, two venture scouts and four patrol leaders travelled to the city to join the Bulwark for six days as she sailed north to Newcastle.

The group was picked up by a landing craft utility at the Portsmouth Maritime Base and taken aboard the ship which was anchored outside the port. This proved an amazing experience since the scouts had never participated in an exercise which saw the landing craft embarking on the ship through the ramp in the stern.

Over the next six days, the scouts joined the ship’s crew within the various departments to learn how it operated.

On the second day, the boys were shown how the ship reacts to two of the biggest threats – fire and flooding.

Group members had the opportunity to dress up and use fire fighting gear on the vehicle deck. Later they competed against each other in a flood repair damage control exercise, trying to fit in as many wooden wedges as they could to block water entering the ship.

Over the following few days the scouts also witnessed training sessions of two Chinook helicopters landing on the flight deck simultaneously.

This was performed with extreme accuracy and precision, the two helicopters landing only a few metres away from each other in a technique which was impressive to watch.

The group also had the opportunity to meet up with Royal Marine commandos who provide the ship’s amphibous squadron. They gave us an overview of the support they give to landing and assault troops and the way they conduct beach and land reconnaissance.

Throughout the whole demonstration they also organised a few games with some of the equipment they use, such as the headsets they wear to communicate among themselves.

Throughout the trip our members joined Captain Alex Burton on the bridge to learn about the overall command of the ship.

They also joined weapons and mechanical engineers who explained the ship defences, engine rooms and overall systems which help in the running of the warship.

On one of the evenings, the crew organised a quiz over the ship’s communication system.

Seventeen teams made-up of sailors, officers, commandos and affiliate groups participated from their own cabins listening in to the questions over the speakers and filling out quiz sheets.

Major topics were general knowledge, history, music and geography. The scouts were joint first with a team of marine commandos and were awarded the Union Jack and the ship’s ensign as prizes.

Just before berthing in Newcastle, the group was received by Captain Burton who presented a framed autographed photograph of the ship. The College group presented the captain with specially inscribed glass mementos of the trip.