Type 23 Testing – the Type 23 Frigates RICHMOND and WESTMINSTER have been on two week exercise in Norway joining some twenty (20) NATO warships and aircraft trying to hunt down two submarines carrying students on the world famous International Submarine Command Course.    Warships and aircraft from Norway, the Netherlands. Denmark and France acted as the foes of the two submarine whilst the Dutch and Norwegians each provided a Frigate for the students on the International Submarine Command Course.   The course – known as “Perisher” [because to fail effectively ends an officer’s career in submarines] – and the would be submarine commanders are tested in every imaginable scenario.     This includes is the ‘eyes only’ runs, where the submarine must try to make a successful torpedo attack using only the periscope and mental agility, while every warship in the area tries to charge it down.      The Royal Navy has run “Perisher” courses since the Great War (as the First World War was originally known) and as well as being a supreme test of the budding submarine commanders, the exercise has been as good a workout as the crew of a Type 23 Frigate are going to get.

For the first time since 1993, the Royal Navy “Perisher” students are carrying out their training aboard diesel-electric submarines as part of a new joint programme, in this instance allowing submariners from the Royal Navy, Netherlands and Norway to share their experiences – and also ‘play’ with much more opposition than on individual national “Perisher” courses.