Senior School Cadets Battle Blazes at HMS Raleigh

Published by Monkton Senior School on Tuesday 2nd of May 2023

As our pupils returned to Monkton for the Summer term, 24 Senior School Cadets headed along with members of staff to HMS Raleigh in Plymouth, the largest Royal Navy training establishment in the South West.

Upon their evening arrival, students soon settled in to their residential base ready for an immersive workshop with the Damage Repair Instructional Unit on the following day. The site is based across 239 acres, with a maritime training centre on the River Lynher and satellite bases for leadership and team-working exercises. One of our students shared more details on the day's activities:

"After a full breakfast, we headed into the mock ship deck where teams of 8 competed to plug the holes in the deck itself, deck head and bulkheads. The task was made harder by half a metre of rising water, simulated smoke, reduced lighting and some extra water pouring in from hosepipes!

It was a really good challenge in which the cadets applied both teamwork and resilience to complete. The afternoon was used to learn more about the different fires and ways to extinguish them, with which all Navy personnel must be familiar. This included a practical use of extinguishers and centre fed hoses to put out a simulated combustible fire.

We arrived back to school on Wednesday evening tired (especially those who had also walked on Dartmoor for the previous 4 days!), but having successfully completed the challenges over the day."