Cold War Royal Navy Diesel Submarine officer during the 1960s and 70s (167)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2021

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Commander Rob Forsyth joined submarines in1961. By March 1962 as a young officer, he joined HMS Auriga a 1945 vintage diesel submarine. Within 7 months the 22-year-old was loading live torpedoes and preparing for a war mission during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Robs tell of many fascinating incidents in his career including under-ice operations and an incident where Rob's captain made an error that almost resulted in the total loss of submarine and crew. He also details what it was like to take the Submarine Commanding Officers’ Qualifying Course aka “The Perisher”. This six-month course is a prerequisite for the command of a submarine. Failure means your submarine career “perishes”. I could really use your support to help me to continue to produce these podcasts. A monthly donation of $4, £3 or €3 via Patreon will really help, plus you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. I am delighted to welcome Rob Forsyth to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode in our show notes which can also be found as a link in your podcast app here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode167/ If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Thank you very much for listening. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations 0:00 Introduction 1:15 Guest Introduction: Rob Forsyth, Royal Navy Veteran 7:15 Submarine Training and the Cuban Missile Crisis Experience 16:04 Recollection of Near-Miss Submarine Incidents 18:10 Deployment to Canada and Leisure Time in Bermuda 22:17 Lessons from Under Ice Operations and Handling Submarine in Icy Conditions 28:47 Work on Sound Propagation in Water and Anti-Submarine Training 33:47 Trimmed Down Submarine and Operation Differences in War and Peace Mode 37:33 Life in the Far East Fleet and Goodwill Visits 46:23 Experience of Perisher and the Realities of Submarine Command 1:00:41 Maintaining Morale and Teamwork During Crisis 1:05:00 Acknowledgment of the Patrons and Episode Conclusion Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:06.0	And actually, for the first time ever, I started to feel inside frightened, properly frightened.
0:13.9	It's the first time I was conscious of the fact that actually if I didn't get this right,
0:20.2	then there might be not a positive outcome to
0:23.1	this particular trip.
0:27.1	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:31.5	If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history
0:36.4	accounts.
0:37.8	Do make sure you subscribe in your podcast app so that you don't miss out on future episodes.
0:45.8	Rob Forsyth joined the Royal Navy in 1961 and by March 1962 as a young officer he joined HMS Orega, a 1945 vintage diesel submarine.
0:59.0	Within seven months, the 22-year-old was loading live torpedoes and preparing for a war mission aboard Orega during the tense days of the Cuban missile crisis.
1:11.6	Rob tells of many fascinating incidents in his career, including under-ice operations and an incident
1:18.6	where his submarine commander made an error, which almost resulted in the total loss of the submarine and crew.
1:26.6	He also details what it was like to take the
1:29.7	submarine commanding officers qualifying course, also known as the perisher. This
1:35.9	six-month course is a prerequisite for command of a submarine. Failure means your
1:41.7	submarine career perishes.
1:50.8	Now, I could really use your support to help me continue to produce these podcasts.
1:57.9	A monthly donation of $4, 3 pounds or 3 euros via Patreon would really help.
1:59.9	But don't take my word for it.
2:02.6	Let's hear from Tim Slansky, one of our supporters. I'm Tim from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I support the Cold War Conversations
2:07.6	podcast financially because of the great research and the quality of the storytelling.
	...

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