Royal Navy sailors salute to 50 years of service

In a day of pomp and ceremony to mark the golden celebrations, The First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones, reviewed military personnel during ceremonial divisions.

Special guests, including veterans and former naval base workers, looked on as Admiral Jones reviewed the assembled ranks of submariners, sailors and Royal Marines from the base.

Officially opened by HRH The Queen Mother on May 10, 1968, the naval base is now the home of the UK Submarine Service and around 6,800 military and civilian staff who support the Royal Navy Fleet from Scotland, making it the largest military site in Scotland.

The base will become the sole home of the UK Submarine Service from 2020. And with the UK Government investing millions of pounds into the site, personnel is set to increase by another 2,000.

All submarine training will also be moved to Faslane over the next 10 years.

However, the base has been the focus of long-term, high-profile protests from anti-nuclear campaigners, and the peace camp close to the base has been occupied since June, 1982.

The SNP’s aim of banning nuclear weapons from an independent Scotland has also put the base at the centre of fierce debate locally and nationally.

In an interview with the Advertiser, Admiral Jones said: “From my perspective, as head of the Royal Navy, this reinforces the place of the Royal Navy in Scotland and that is something we are really keen to do at the moment.

“We are going to be here for a long time to come because we are investing massively here.”

Discussing the impact the base investment would have on Helensburgh and Lomond, Admiral Jones urged young people locally to actively consider a naval career.

He said: “I would encourage them to look at what a career in the Navy offers, because, firstly, it makes them part of something, something bigger than them, and something that goes back over 100s of years of recognition.

“We are offering fabulous careers with really high-quality technical training.”

Captain Craig Mearns, Captain of HMS Neptune and Captain of the naval base, told the Advertiser: “As a commanding officer, it’s all about people. You can have all the best kit in the world, but none of it works without people and that’s what they have achieved.

“What we are hoping to see is that as more and more submariners come up here, plus all the training, that people choose to base themselves in and around Helensburgh and Lomond.

“What we find is that is when people have a home to go to in the evening when they are not at sea, it makes for a much more stable and happy existence.”

Commodore Mark Gayfer, Naval Base Commander Clyde, said: “To achieve an unbroken chain of continuous deterrent patrols for almost 50 years is a testament to the hard work and determination of generations of submariners, base workers and their families.

“The Clyde has a proud maritime history and I am confident that the naval base and HMS Neptune will continue this tradition of world-class engineering and personnel support for another 50 years or more.”

Anne McKinlay, head of business a the base said the anniversary was important from a civilian perspective.

She said: “It’s not just naval personnel, there are 1,400 civilians on the base who play a significant part and provide continuity.

“Part of my job is strategic workforce planning, so we are looking at the skills we need for the future.”

Meanwhile, Argyll and Bute’s SNP MP Brendan O’Hara said it was hard to believe Faslane is now in its 50th year.

He added: “There are many who are opposed to what the base has come to symbolise.

“My view has always been that Faslane is a strategically vital installation and there is no reason why it shouldn’t always have a bright non-nuclear future for ourselves and our NATO allies.”

Campaign group Trident Ploughshares said: “That nuclear weapons are still at Faslane 50 years after the UK signed up to the Non Proliferation Treaty is a sign of the failure of the nuclear weapons states to keep their side of this particular bargain.

“Other countries agreed not to develop and build nuclear weapons in return for those with them acting in good faith to disarm.

“On the contrary, the UK like the rest of the nuclear club has continued to upgrade their systems and show no sign of any desire to become free of weapons of mass destruction.

“There is an outcry in the Helensburgh area about any kind of protest at Faslane in case it disrupts normal life. Well, living with weapons which are capable of such imaginable death and suffering in your midst is not normal.

“It is time to get in step with the rest of the world and put the many skills of the Faslane workforce into providing the things that people really need for their security.”

Some key dates

First World War: Royal Navy Air Service floatplanes and submarines conduct trials on the loch.

Second World War: Jetties constructed in Faslane Bay

May 10, 1968: Queen Mother opens HMS Neptune, the Clyde Submarine Base. Around 2,350 people on site.

1968: HMS Resolution conducts first operational Polaris patrol.

1969: the UK fully commits to Continuous Air Sea Deterrence.

1982: UK transitions from Polaris to Trident missile system.

1995: Name changes from Clyde Submarine Base to HM Naval Base Clyde.

2009: 200m long Valiant jetty towed from Greenock. HMS Astute arrives, joined later by HMS Ambush and HMS Artful.

2012: Reformation of 43 Commando - part of 3 Commando Brigade, providing security to the nuclear deterrent.