Royal Navy to train 500 raw recruits at Fareham military base as service sees a huge boom in demand

Fareham’s HMS Collingwood is gearing up to accept 500 new recruits who will start their basic training at the military hub in January.

It comes as applications to join the navy, Royal Marines and Royal Fleet Auxiliary rocketed by about a third in the past year.

Delighted top brass have scrambled to accommodate the massive swell in demand, which has been touted by a former head of the navy as one of the single-biggest rises in recent memory.

The revelation came just days after prime minister Boris Johnson announced a huge £16bn boost in defence spending, as he vowed to increase Britain’s fleet of frigates and destroyers.

Admiral Lord Alan West, a former First Sea Lord, was thrilled by the surge in those seeking to join the navy, which has in recent years struggled to hit recruitment targets.

He said: ‘I can’t remember the last time the navy saw such a large rise in recruit numbers. It’s extremely good news for Britain and fantastic news for the Royal Navy.’

Training for ratings normally only takes place at HMS Raleigh, in Torpoint, Devon.

However, the military base is already bursting at the seams with trainees, having taken on an additional 330 raw recruits in recent weeks.

It’s expected that in the next year, the site will deliver a whopping 3,000 new sailors to fill the fleet’s growing ranks.

In a bid to meet demand, the navy took the unprecedented decision to send an intake of wannabe ratings to Britannia Royal Naval College, the spiritual home of the officer corps in Dartmouth, earlier this year.

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And with a second 10-week course planned for ratings at the prestigious training hub and HMS Raleigh still grappling to meet demand, naval leaders turned to HMS Collingwood for assistance.

The swell in numbers comes ahead of a planned reshuffle by the navy in how it trains its sailors.

Under plans by the government, Gosport’s HMS Sultan has been earmarked for closure. The shake-up will see hundreds more sailors being boost at Collingwood by 2026.

Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said the latest news at Collingwood would help to cement is reputation as a top military training hub.

‘This is incredibly positive,’ he added. ‘HMS Collingwood is the country’s largest naval shore base – this will make it larger still.

‘It’s a great privilege to have the Royal Navy so well represented in Fareham and I’m delighted that Collingwood will be expanding further. It’s extremely positive for Collingwood and for Fareham.’

In all over the past 12 months 5,944 people have applied to become officers across the Royal Navy – one in nine wanting to become an F-35 or helicopter pilot.

And applications to become a rating or join the Royal Marines ranks have risen from 14,757 to 18,872.

It is believed that a combination of recruitment drives, television documentaries and uncertainty over job security during the pandemic are among the key drivers behind the spike in demand.

Captain Pete Viney, the navy’s head of recruiting, hailed the rise had been ‘really healthy’ and said the Senior Service had continued to operate during the pandemic.

‘We’ve not stopped for a single moment – we have continued to provide the navy with the people it needs to do its job both today and tomorrow,’ he added.

Lord West now hopes that the government will ‘lift the ceiling’ on recruitment for the armed forces to capitalise on the sudden boom in interest.

He added: ‘One of the things that makes it attractive is when the prime minister says the best thing for the UK is building more ships for the Royal Navy and that it will become the most powerful navy in Europe - that sort of thing makes youngsters eager to join.’

HMS Collingwood is currently the navy’s warfare and weapon engineering training school, providing professional training to thousands of newly-qualified ratings and officers.

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