The Underwater Escape Training Unit (UETU) is a military training centre for survival at sea in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

; the site is mainly for helicopter aircrew.

History

The purpose-built site in Somerset opened in 1985. The Royal Navy previously had underwater breathing training for fixed-wing aircrew at the Royal Navy Air Medical School and had underwater escape for helicopter aircrew in a dunker at

HMS Vernon Two ships and a training establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Vernon'', possibly after Admiral Edward Vernon: * was a 14-gun armed ship listed between 1781 and 1782. * was a 50-gun fourth rate launched in 1832. She becam ...

;''Flight International'', 25 November 1971
/ref> HMS Vernon trained around 800

rotary wing A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 14 of the U ...

aircrew a year, and had five naval divers. Civilian offshore workers in the UK are also trained at a dunker in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. The 1985 site trained up to 1200 rotary wing aircrew a year. Aircrew carry STASS ( Short Term Air Supply System). Other countries have the

Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Device The Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Device or HABD (also known as a Helicopter Emergency Egress Device HEED or SEA ) is an item of survival equipment which was adopted by the military to increase the chances of survival for embarked troops and airc ...

(HABD). STASS was introduced into the Fleet Air Arm in 1992. The new £15m Underwater Escape Training Unit opened on 27 February 2018. The UETU can train up to 6000 aircrew a year.

Training

The site offers tri-service training for the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the Army Air Corps. Foreign countries also train at the dunker too.

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

pilots on Air 424 spend a week at the dunker, and must attend refresher courses every three years. For STASS training, there is a recompression chamber (

diving chamber A diving chamber is a vessel for human occupation, which may have an entrance that can be sealed to hold an internal pressure significantly higher than ambient pressure, a pressurised gas system to control the internal pressure, and a supply of ...

). There is a

HUET Helicopter Underwater Egress Training (also known as Helicopter Underwater Escape Training ); often abbreviated as HUET, pronounced ''hue-wet'', ''hue-way'' or ''you-way'') is training provided to helicopter flight crews, offshore drilling, offsho ...

system for the

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

which seats eight, and one for the larger helicopters which seats twelve. There is buoyant ascent training.

Structure

It is situated off the B3151 (former

A303 The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a prima ...

), in south

. The dunker operates from Monday to Friday all year. Every three months there is one week of diving training at the site. There is a 5-metre-deep Dunker pool, a 4-metre-deep Survival Equipment pool, and a 3-metre-deep Short Term Air Supply System pool.

References

External links

Royal Navy
{{Naval Service (British) Buildings and structures in South Somerset Underwater diving organizations Education in Somerset Military installations established in 1985 Naval aviation units and formations of the United Kingdom Naval aviation education Naval education and training in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Somerset Sea rescue in the United Kingdom Survival training Underwater diving in the United Kingdom Underwater diving training organizations 1985 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

Training

Structure

See also

References

External links