Royal Navy welcomes first raw recruits to Fareham's HMS Collingwood since the Second World War

Twenty-two men and women arrived at the Fareham establishment to begin their 10 weeks of basic training – 81 years to the day the base first opened its gates during the war.

They are the first cohort of 500 raw recruits set to be turned into sailors at Collingwood this year.

The base has been mobilised to train the next generation of sailors following a huge surge of applications over the past year.

Lieutenant Commander Jon Pollard, who’s in charge of the civilian-to-sailor training in Fareham, said it had taken a ‘monumental effort’ to accommodate an influx of recruits.

‘The project has required infrastructure investment, particularly new classrooms, to ensure the correct training environment is in place for the recruits,’ he added.

‘As far as is practicable the recruits will receive the same training and lived experience as they do at Raleigh, accepting that given the available infrastructure and geographical location there will inevitably be some subtle differences.’

The 10-week course teaches recruits how to look after their kit, parade ground drill, teamwork, Royal Navy ethos and history, general seamanship and survival skills.

Browndown Camp in Gosport and Salisbury Plain will be used for outdoor activities, leadership challenges and assessment, while trainees will experience the basics of seafaring and seamanship at HMS Excellent and aboard Portsmouth-based patrol vessels.

Trainee communications recruit Scott Collins, aged 21, from Paisley in Scotland, said: ‘So far the experience has been great – and challenging, especially keeping kit up to standard. The level of training we are required to do is very high.’

Megan Lydamore is training to become an air engineer, working on F-35 stealth fighters or Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

‘It’s been really tough,’ said the 19-year-old from Nottingham. ‘Physical training has been extremely hard, but I am looking forward to the outdoor exercises on Salisbury Plain.’

Navy top brass hope to grow the fleet by some 3,000 sailors over the next three years, with 1,000 extra personnel this year.

Collingwood follows Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth – the traditional home of the officer corps – which trained 100 new junior ratings last year.

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The two bases are providing training alongside HMS Raleigh in Torpoint, the home of initial training for nearly 50 years. It receives around 60 raw recruits every week and is also increasing its throughput to meet the additional numbers.

The training will be delivered by instructors as well as Collingwood’s experts in specialist fields such as physical training, seamanship and navigation.

Many of the 500 sailors who begin their careers at Collingwood will continue their professional training at the base, which is the home of the navy’s weapon engineering and warfare branches and already prepares around 3,000 officers and ratings for front-line ships and units every year.

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