Rotary meeting : Speaker : Chris Munns - Royal Naval Submarines in WW1 : Club Host - Jonathan Rouse : Speakers Host - Rev John Dawson

Chris Munns joined the Royal Navy in 1971 and the Submarine Service in 1975. He served in conventional (diesel powered), nuclear (nuclear powered and conventionally armed) and Polaris (nuclear powered and nuclear armed) submarines during 20 years in the Submarine Service. He commanded the conventional submarine HMS Oracle and the nuclear submarine HMS Courageous and taught the Submarine Commanding Officers’ Qualifying Course. Following his operational career in the submarine service, he did a number of staff jobs in the MoD and the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, retiring from the RN in 2005. Since retirement he has worked in social care and run two museums. He now runs the SSAFA (the Armed Forces Charity) operation in Southampton as a volunteer.

Synopsis of the talk

The Submarine Service is known as the Silent Service for good reason. Its story is not well known and submarine warfare is perhaps the least understood branch of military operations.  Most people have heard of the wartime exploits of U Boats and the havoc they wreaked. But how many people know anything about what RN submarines got up to?  This talk aims to tell the story of some of the very courageous men that served in early submarines and forged the traditions and culture which are still evident in the modern submarine service. It is the story of real submariners who were nothing like the miserable, mendacious, inhospitable characters portrayed in the BBC Vigil programme. The men in our story were brave, humorous, human, sometimes reckless and often very scared. The talk is light on technology so should appeal to all. I hope you will enjoy it.