THE

BLAZER BUGLE
Newsletter of Southampton University Royal Naval Unit
SOUTHAMPTON

FEBRUARY 2017

Leavers
This is the 3rd Year students that have now left the unit to pursue life post
University. Special thanks to the SMID Kiani Pay and DSMID Emma Brook for
all your efforts throughout the year.

Remembrance
Commanding Officer SURNU - Lt Tim Bateson RN Remembrance Sunday was concentrated at Southampton Guildhall this year
alongside our affiliated unit HMS ARTFUL.
The streets were lined by members of the public paying their own respects
Commanding and all the students said it was a great day to be in uniform and remember the
fallen. The CO laid a reef on behalf of SURNU alongside all the other dignitaries.
Officer A few great runs ashore and a beach BBQ ensured that the Weymouth
Waterfest weekend was a thoroughly successful weekend away, enjoyed by all.
Well the end of 2016 brings to a close a very
busy year at SURNU. This edition highlights
but a few of the events we attended. An
excellent recruitment round meant our target
of 21 students was achieved, bringing the
unit back to maximum capacity of 51. An
amazing 58 people were interviewed for
those spaces, demonstrating how important
the URNU organisation is to students around
the country. To those that unfortunately leave
us (I am convinced most would stay members
long after university finishes (!)), I wish you
all the best in your future careers and I am
sure I will see some of you around the Fleet.
Finally, a big thank you to all our affiliates for
continued support of SURNU.
 Summer Phase 2 set off from Grimsby and headed to Lowestoft rather than
Great Yarmouth, causing the newly printed deployment polos to need

deployment 2016
Phase 1 ran from the 9th June in Edinburgh and
ended on 26th June in Grimsby. We were in
company with HMS RANGER and Sussex URNU
for the duration of our deployment as well as
HMS ARCHER and Edinburgh URNU for the
start of our deployment. Deployment began
with a harbour day and night out in Edinburgh
with Edinburgh URNU whilst HMS RANGER had
some last minute repairs before we headed to
our first port, Aberdeen. We then continued
north to Inverness and sailed down the beautiful
Caledonian Canal, stopping at Fort Augustus and
passing through Loch Ness. There was even an
opportunity for some promotional pictures. We
left the Caledonian Canal for the Isle of Mull and
a harbour day in Tobermory, the setting for the
TV show Balamory, where we drank whiskey and
attempted a BBQ. From there it was back to the
canal, stopping at Fort William and Fort Augustus
and finally Inverness, our last Scottish port, for a
harbour day of kayaking and dancing in an Irish
pub. To round off Phase 1, we ended in Grimsby
for National Armed Forces Day where the general
public had the chance to tour HMS BLAZER and
HMS RANGER. SURNU and Sussex URNU got the
rare opportunity to watch the Red Arrows at sea.
Phase 1 was a smashing deployment and everyone
on board had a great time!
their first alteration of many. The students on board from a mix of both
Southampton and London URNUs began to get to know each other. After
suffering the disappointment of watching England be dumped out of
the euros to Iceland we set sail for Holland, after a rather long passage
we finally arrived in the Dutch naval base of Den Helder. This gave us
our first taste of completing charts, navigating, helming and finding any
possible spare moment to sleep, which we became pros at by the end of
deployment (well the sleeping bit at least). Terschelling was our next stop,
receiving our first harbour day, we took advantage of tandem bike hire to
explore the island at speed and a small group of us took up an invitation
to visit the local lighthouse, with a view worth the large amount of steps
need to climb to the top. Soon after was Emden for another harbour day,
this time in Germany, taking time to visiting a surviving WWII bunker
and sampling the local beers and nightlife of the city. We then visited the
German island of Helgoland, a picturesque setting with sheer cliff faces,
coastal footpaths and any University students dream: since the island
was duty free, we made use of our spare time to go shopping. We then
returned to Holland, staying in the harbour of Deifzijl for a number of
days due to the rough sea state and weather conditions. Finally, we ended
up in the city of Amsterdam for our handover to Phase 3, where went
exploring for 2 days and saw all the city had to offer.
Phase 3 deployment went from Holland, to Belgium, and then returned to
the UK over a two week period. We were a mixed group with first, second
and third years who had not had much time with each other during the
past year. Over the course of the two weeks, friendships were constructed
and many stories made, alongside our accompanying ship HMS Ranger.
Without a doubt, the highlights of the deployment would be the runs
ashore in the cities of Amsterdam, Oostend and Brugge. Sightseeing,
trying local food and drink, as well as learning skills at sea, were just a
few things we did with our time on HMS BLAZER. Every member of our
deployment would agree that this deployment was the highlight of our
time within SURNU this year. Students various, 2016

Freshers New Entry

weekend BRNC
Our New Entry joined that of five
other URNUs from around the country
at Britannia Royal Naval College in
Dartmouth.
The weekend consisted of training in
navigation, marching and leadership, as
well as an opportunity to use the bridge
simulator, a tour of the college along
with the compulsory RN swim test.
100% effort was applied to all, by
all, and everyone had a thoroughly
enjoyable time.
Three peaks
On the 1st to the 4th August a group of 13 SURNU members and 2 Mountain SPORTS
Leaders took on the 3 Peaks Challenge to raise money for the RNRMC. SURNU reigned supreme at Inter-URNU Sports
Weekend 2016, finishing with 74 points, 25
The ascent of the first peak, Ben Nevis, began at 1630 on 2nd August and we ahead of the runners-up, Bristol, who had 49!
began the journey in good time as high morale pushed us to the top of the 1345m We also reached the final in every event (a
climb. The descent into poor weather took its toll but the first challenge was record-breaking feat since no team has ever
completed in just over 5 hours before a treacherous journey to the Peak District and reached all the semi-finals before, let alone the
Scarfell Pike. finals!), winning Bucket Ball and Hockey and
coming second in nearly every other sport.
The scaling of Englands tallest peak of 978m began at 0300 on 3rd August in the
We blamed the second places on fatigue from
freezing cold and pouring rain. It was possibly one of the harder climbs of the three all the finals we had to play(!). All of us are
but a lot of motivation and even more sugar resulted in us reaching the top in good looking forward to regaining our title in 2017.
time. The descent was slower as aches and injuries began to take their toll but the
improving weather meant the group were looking forward to Snowdon, the final
peak.

The last ascent began at midday and although the weather held out, in true Welsh
fashion it was raining not long after the final walk began. At this point in the
challenge, the chance of completion within the 24 hour window was looking near
impossible, even more so with the worsening raining and gale force winds. We
battled up the paths, trying not to get blown off the side of the mountain, and
finally crawled (literally) to the top of the third and final peak at a height of 9185m.
A rapid descent down the miners path was made and the end of the challenge was
greeted with a rare moment of sunshine.

Huge congratulations are owed to all SURNU members involved in the gruelling
challenge. 26 hours and 1147 pounds is a fantastic outcome for all the efforts, sore
feet and wet clothes. Same again next year? Mid K Reid, SMID

Southampton URNU is seeking Training Officers to provide maritime leadership and navigation training
to our students who are Royal Naval Reservists. The role requires leadership skills, a willingness to learn
and commitment. If you feel you can contribute in this area, please contact the unit at NAVYTRGBRNC-
URNUSOTONCOXN@mod.uk

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