SETT - Something For the Weekend?
by Jules Kelley

Photographs by Tony Baskeyfield

On a lovely sunny March weekend three club members and myself had a dive with a difference to kick-start our season. We joined Marlin sub-aqua club, based in Nuneaton for a dive in the Royal Navy’s Submarine Escape Training Tank (S.E.T.T.) This is a tall tower-like building that rises above the Gosport skyline and housed within it is a 5m wide, 30m deep circular swimming pool! The Navy use this facility to train submariners on escape techniques, basically pushing them out of an air lock at the base of the tank and they then free ascend the 30m to the surface.

Luckily we were doing it all in reverse by heading down from the top with a nice cylinder of air on our backs! The water was absolutely crystal clear, and a steamy 34°C. Who could ask for more? Peering over the tank top on the fifth floor was a little eerie though, but after a very thorough brief by the chief instructor on duty it was time to get suited and booted. Andy and Helen Hay wasted no time in getting in to the water, while Emma and myself were next to take the plunge, with pairs diving at set intervals. It was so nice to only be in a 3mm shorty and be able to see the bottom from the surface!

We did a fast descent like a skydiver down to the base and pressed the ole computer to the floor to register the depth. Not a great deal to see of course in a swimming pool, but we looked into the airlocks and blisters that are used in the escape training. Quite strange were the little porthole windows looking out to the sea: here we are surrounded by water …looking down on the water!!

This was a great experience and definitely very different. We then went on to look around the Submarine Museum, which included a tour on HMS Achilles that really opened your eyes to the life of a submariner!

It’s a brilliant idea for a weekend away: you can combine the SETT dive with a trip into Horsea Island Lake too, and the historic dockyard in Portsmouth is just a ten-minute ferry ride from Gosport.

Leamington and Warwick SAC
SETT

All photographs by Tony Baskeyfield: PlusTwoDesign

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