Submarines played a key role in operations throughout the Cold War. They were NATO’s primary anti-submarine tool, tracking and observing Soviet nuclear-armed submarines making their way into the Atlantic, or gathering intelligence on new weapons or tactics. From 1968 submarines carried the UK’s nuclear deterrent, patrolling the oceans at 15 minutes readiness to launch if war broke out. Deterrent patrols usually lasted between eight and twelve weeks and were spent entirely underwater. When they were not on duty, submariners had to find ways to entertain themselves. Watching films, quizzes, on-board magazines and even sport were among the popular pastimes.
Commodore Frederic Thompson, kept himself and his crewmates entertained, by creating ‘radio’ programmes, which were then broadcast over the submarine’s internal speakers. Thompson made his half hour audio entertainment programmes using a microphone and open-reel audio tape recorders in the boat’s Sound Reproduction Equipment office. He started off by making programmes about naval history but also playing music. He even wrote a serial story about the fictional business plans of one of the boat’s stokers, and a western-themed tale based on a real event that had happened earlier in the patrol.
St Andrew’s Day on HMS Andrew
“And here's a newsflash.”
“You can't put a news flash on the SRE it can’t be seen.”
“Well, here's the news bang, bang! The Scots have taken Carlisle. OK, all the Scots are reporting the news. That was the end of the news. Folks, it's Saint Andrew's night.”
(music/singing) “On the submarine, we sail the seven sea. We share our hopes, our glory, and by God, we aim to be. There's not another crew that is like us. There's not another one to compare. For there's happiness and sadness, and by God, we do not care. Today's Saint Andrew’s Day and songs and dates we are alone. About the same of Scotland, about her happy home. Don't worry all of you listeners, don't worry what you may do. For there's a Saint in Scotland. And he's got his eye on you. Oh, there’s a saint in Scotland and he’s got his eye on you.”
“That was we (inaudible), of course. But now, in a more serious vain, we have a ballad recital.”
His interest in making programmes while at sea began when he was serving in HMS Andrew in November 1969.
The wartime diesel boat was acting as the enemy on an anti-submarine training exercise with two other submarines, USS Nautilus and HMS Valiant, both newer and nuclear powered. He remembers HMS Andrew “really hadn’t a chance competing with these guys”.
So on St Andrews Day, the boat dived, went deep and waited. While underwater, members of the ship’s company held a variety show featuring comedy and music which Thompson recorded..
“Some weeks later when we were having the post-exercise analysis, the exercise analysts couldn’t figure out what had happened to HMS Andrew – everyone could hear her for about three days then she just disappeared for a day. But no one could figure out where she’d gone, how’d she’d managed to just disappear. Actually, it was us having our concert.”
“[It’s] probably absolutely unique. I don’t think there were many ships concerts recorded in diesel submarines,” he says.
Inspection at Faslane
“The next programme for Radio Revenge is the Thursday night WEO Show. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight’s WEO show, sponsored by Radio Revenge is coming from the Admiralty floating Dock number 60 at the Clyde submarine base, near Faslane, where today a very special naval ceremony is taking place.”
Her Majesty the Queen has graciously commanded that the Polaris submarine HMS Revenge be given an alerted royal inspection under her Royal Highness's new policy for inspecting the quality of sailors’ dress at short notice. These inspections are to be called snap Queens inspections into tailoring standards or SQUITS for short. And these will be the very first time that Her Majesty has had SQUITS at Faslane. The submarine has been given only 10 minutes warning of Her Majesty's arrival, and is now hurriedly forming itself up on the south jetty, ready to march on to the dock bottom with traditional naval ceremony. We're now taking you over to our outside broadcast unit at Faslane. And this is cocky leaky reporting to you from the north corner of the Admiralty floating dock number 60 at Faslane and on behalf of the Thursday Night WEO Show, I bid you welcome to Faslane. And they'll now shortly be another fanfare to herald the arrival of the Royal Guard, which is being formed by the elite divisions of the ship, the electrical department. And now the wheel, resplendent in his green felt hat with the yellow band and the white bloom, and wearing over his white overalls, the distinct green velvet cloak with the gold trimmings marches smartly across the dock bottom to report to Her Majesty that the raw guard is ready for action. And joining the Her Majesty now is the commanding officer of HMS Revenge, Commander AP Horton, not Royal Navy in his distinctive, highly bulled, direct moulded, sole steaming boots. Bold for today's occasion by Stuart Hamlock. And also joining the Royal party is the executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Barry Card in his personalised blue oil skins, with the orange waistcoat. And carrying under his arm the red flashing imitation fire, which is the modern symbol of high executive office.”
While serving in HMS Revenge in 1978, Commodore Thompson, then a Lieutenant Commander and the Weapon Engineering Officer, continued making his programmes with his own regular Thursday broadcast called “The WEO Show”.
In the clip above, a spoof outside broadcast, he describes a uniform inspection by the Queen which features members of the ship’s company, made using his open-reel tape recorder.
“I had a vinyl of the Royal Marines playing, I recorded that into an open reel tape recorder, I was sitting in a little tiny compartment and I had a microphone, listening to the Royal Marines in the earphones and making my commentary.
“I was only just imaging all the sailors from the different departments, I think I had a list of all their names so I made sure I got everyone, so they could all feel part of it…it wasn’t even scripted.”
“It wasn’t too difficult really, you knew everyone so well, you were together for ten weeks in a steel tube….I knew who they all were, I just sort of described them from my head has I imagined them marching on to the dockside.”
Looking back
“And what I find it's very difficult when you get older, you can't, you don't believe you're old and you know. Captain, there's passed away. Harry Harrison's passed away. I don't know what lost track of the others. Probably in the queue, but you know you still think they're all young men you know. I remember them exactly as they were and not as they would be now.”
Commodore Thompson has donated some of the audio programmes and patrol magazines he made to IWM’s collections. He is also writing a book about his experiences during the Cold War. He says listening back to the audio brings back the memories of making the recordings and the men he served with.
