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Are there any heights tests?

A

Aaa

Midshipman
I saw in the Royal Navy School TV show that they must jump from what looked to be a 30 or 40 feet high wooden stand. Will are recruits have to do this? I did not see it in the booklet.
 
I have no idea about the current training, but here are two scenarios:

1. Your ship is somewhere very hot and sunny, in the middle of a sparkling blue ocean. You have been on task / exercise watch on, stop on for two weeks. The skipper calls 'Hands to bathe' - this is where you put your swimmies on and leap into the sea - from the ship's side.

2. Your ship is on the same ocean, but it is less sparkly and the ship has recently been attacked by aircraft and is sinking. The skipper makes the pipe 'Stand by to abandon ship'. This is where you put on your survival suit and leap into the sea - from the ship's side.

Have I made myself clear and answered your question?
 
SONAR-BENDER said:
I have no idea about the current training, but here are two scenarios:

1. Your ship is somewhere very hot and sunny, in the middle of a sparkling blue ocean. You have been on task / exercise watch on, stop on for two weeks. The skipper calls 'Hands to bathe' - this is where you put your swimmies on and leap into the sea - from the ship's side.

2. Your ship is on the same ocean, but it is less sparkly and the ship has recently been attacked by aircraft and is sinking. The skipper makes the pipe 'Stand by to abandon ship'. This is where you put on your survival suit and leap into the sea - from the ship's side.

Have I made myself clear and answered your question?
Click to expand...

Not really, I wanted to know if everyone had to do it, or would the special ones be exempt.
 
The high obstacle/ropes course is to instill 'grit'. Yes, I spelled it correctly. It is an integral part of training.

Those serving on ships will become familiar with "working aloft" but nowadays your safety is paramount and they even insist the individual wears safety equipment to minimise the risk of a fall. The fall, I can attest from personal experience, isn't a problem, it's the landing bit you have to get squared away.
 
SONAR-BENDER said:
I have no idea about the current training, but here are two scenarios:

1. Your ship is somewhere very hot and sunny, in the middle of a sparkling blue ocean. You have been on task / exercise watch on, stop on for two weeks. The skipper calls 'Hands to bathe' - this is where you put your swimmies on and leap into the sea - from the ship's side.

2. Your ship is on the same ocean, but it is less sparkly and the ship has recently been attacked by aircraft and is sinking. The skipper makes the pipe 'Stand by to abandon ship'. This is where you put on your survival suit and leap into the sea - from the ship's side.

Have I made myself clear and answered your question?
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm fine with jumping into the sea, but I saw recently in a video there is no water below them that is what gives me fear. How high is the part of the ship usually that you jump from into the sea?
 
Aaa said:
Yes, I'm fine with jumping into the sea, but I saw recently in a video there is no water below them that is what gives me fear. How high is the part of the ship usually that you jump from into the sea?
Click to expand...
You are wearing a safety harness on the high ropes and whenever working aloft.

If you need to jump from a ship into the sea, the RN swimming test requires you step off a three metre board into a pool. Aircraft carrier flightdecks are considerably higher than that but there are few situations that would require a jump from anything like that height.
 
I can't see the point of a safety harness when abandoning ship, surely you would be dragged down as the ship sank!
 
I am not a fan of heights either. Best thing I did was a Go Ape course local to myself.

Harnessed in tackling crossings from tree to tree whilst trusting a piece of rope. Various zip lines too, and a final 'tarzan swing' which you have to swing out on a rope before the zip line kicks in and takes you to the rope net.

Won't say I have conquered my issue - however I have learnt to trust the equipment abit more.

An ex para friend of mine made a valid point... just think how many people before you have done the same thing and nothing has happened at all.
 
Found the hight thing on my ships diver course at Drake the biggest challenge for me....Off the sharp end of a Whitby class frigate in the dockyard. Managed to hack that. Later was testing out for SAR at Portland and did two jumps, one from a Wessex and one from a Sea King. By that time I was a bit older and deduced my dealing with hights was still a problem for me and was not going to improve with time. End result I gave up any thoughts of SAR. Funny thing is as a junior stoker I thought nothing of climbing atop the funnel to put covers in place after shutting down. No harnesses used in those days. More sense as I got older? :), :).
 
its a safety bottle test, I worked aloft out on yard arms, messing with aerials, in dry dock, that was a long way down, especially when you had to keep taking the harness clip off to move past obstacles, had one lad freeze on me half way out, I had to go and fetch him down, happy days?
 
Sumo said:
its a safety bottle test, I worked aloft out on yard arms, messing with aerials, in dry dock, that was a long way down, especially when you had to keep taking the harness clip off to move past obstacles, had one lad freeze on me half way out, I had to go and fetch him down, happy days?
Click to expand...
Was that training only for certain roles?
 

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