IT’S not just an army that marches on its stomach – Royal Navy submariners patrol on their stomachs too, and that’s why the catering team on board one of the Vanguard-class vessels based at Faslane have picked up an award for their work.

The team from HMS Vengeance (Port) picked up the Fleet Catering Award for 2018-19 recently.

The award is presented annually to the most outstanding catering services department in the Royal Navy – and comes after the starboard team on the same submarine picked up the award last year.

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Commander Douggie Ward MBE, Commander Logistics for the Submarine Flotilla, said: “The Catering Services team of HMS Vengeance (Port) are more than worthy recipients of the Fleet Catering Award for 2019.

“They face catering challenges unknown by their General Service counterparts in having to produce balanced, interesting and healthy meals long after the fresh produce has run out; there is simply no option of a replenishment at sea or a top-up on a port visit for this team.”

“Food is massively important on board,” said Warrant Officer 1 Michael Ellison from the Submarine Flotilla’s catering services waterfront support team.

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“On patrol basic things become very important and the quality of the food is a fundamental part of maintaining morale.

“It takes around three days to store a submarine with fresh, frozen and dry goods, and the way we get supplies on board hasn’t really changed from Nelson’s day.

“It’s a whole crew commitment and everyone gets involved in a human chain running from the dockside to inside the boat.”