Sultan reigns supreme in battle with Collingwood

For many of the trainees it was their first taste of inter-establishment competition

Sailors from Victory Squadron, in HMS Collingwood, travelled to HMS Sultan, in Gosport, to take part in the annual Battle of the Bases.

The competition saw the trainees compete with their Sultan counterparts from the Defence College of Technical Training’s Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival Equipment School (RNAESS) and the Defence School of Marine Engineering (DSMarE) across six sports.

Basketball, rowing, football, Crossfit Throwdown, climbing, running and the establishment’s new trim trail, were among the activities.

For many of the trainees involved, it was a first introduction to inter-establishment competition.

Although there was a clear rivalry throughout the event, under the combined supervision of physical trainers from both establishments, the sports successfully brought the trainees together in a positive way.

Leading Physical Trainer Adam Scott, who organised the afternoon’s activities, said: ‘The event was a great success and I was really pleased to be involved with it.

‘Both the trainees and staff alike worked really hard and that was great to see.

‘Competitive sport is a really good way to keep fit throughout your career and hopefully this will inspire the trainees to get involved again in the future.’

On completion of the event a trophy was presented to HMS Sultan who won five out of six of the sports, with the climbing ending in a draw.