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24 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2008
● (left) A trials gunboat variant of the Offshore Raiding Craft is put through it
paces at RM Instow; (above) the Beast turns back the Devonshire waves; (right
driving through the dip tank in an adapted Land-Rover
ROYAL MARINES Instow is part Royal Marine, part civil charge at Instow, states it simply: happen, by air with the skills of
the pitch-black of night. who know how to look after them,
a unique location. Everyone
servant, and a little bit RN; part “If we don’t get it right here, the Commando Helicopter Force And so to my first bit of first- how to machine the necessary
says so.
land vehicles, part boats; part those big ships couldn’t get the – if bulk and weight and time- person experience...
parts, how to drive them are all in
Everyone down there will tell
amphibious bit-of-both – it’s landing force ashore. The UK’s scales aren’t prohibitive.
The Land-Rover tips slightly Instow. They’re also the ones who
you it is because of the seven
almost impossible to label RM amphibious excellence starts
Or by sea. and water starts flooding in around checked out the BRV before it was
distinct and distinctive types of
Instow, writes Helen Craven. here.”
And at some point those big my ankles. In seconds it’s up to allowed into service.
beach, terrain and water around
But all these separate cogs are There may be some people in
ships hand over their charges to my chest and the windscreen is “I’ve got a certain amount of
here.
an essential part of the Royal the Navy who dispute that. But it
those small boats that cross the nothing but a wall of murky green pride in these,” admitted Steve,
But it’s also unique because of
Marines’ war-machine. Take any is a simple fact.
shallow waters from sea to shore. water. trying to avert his eyes from the
the distinct and distinctive types one of them away, and somewhere Amphibious ships exist to
This is the third time I’ve been distractions of sea water dripping
of work done down here. on a distant shore you risk the deliver the punch of the Royal
through this, but this time I’m the inside his pristine charge.
Part research centre, part Marines grinding to a halt. Marines to the shore. A
nd 11 Amphibious Trials
and Training at Instow, part
of 1 Assault Group RM,
one in the driving seat. He should have pride in the
training base, part trials unit; Major John Lugg, the man in There are two ways that can is focused on all the means and
A driving seat from which the BRV. This man knows everything
methods that make that journey
water is trying to lift me; the same there is to know about the Beast.
from ship to shore and beyond the
pressure of water is depriving Although he might not have
beach possible.
me of the familiar feel of the built it in the first place, the
“If it has to cross the beach,”
accelerator pedal. manufacturers who did are now
explained Maj Lugg, “we have
“Put your foot down,” says the out of business – so if any of the
to know it can survive a depth of
marine next to me cheerfully. So I four Beasts needs fixing, tweaking
1.5m of water.”
do, as the specially-adapted Land- or replacement parts, Instow is
It means that 11ATT have to
Rover surges back up the steep where the expertise lies.
make sure that the right kit exists
slope and onto dry land again. “The old Centurion BARV
to make that journey at the best
“Now imagine doing that from was considerably lighter, with
speed with the least risk.
a moving landing craft, against the driver ultimately underwater
It means that 11ATT have
surging waves, in the dark.”
relying on the commander to
to make sure that the vehicles,
At Royal Marines Instow the
guide him. It was a bit of a crew
trucks, heavy plant that come
dip tank is an early visit in driver
nightmare.
ashore for a landing can make
training. Over the course of my
“The Centurion was a
that shallow crossing from boat to
one-day visit, I’ll return to the
demanding bit of kit. But with this
beach. And ask anyone – seawater
dip tank in bigger and bigger
the crew comfort is fantastic, and
is the enemy of engines.
vehicles.
the reliability is very good.”
It means that 11ATT
The BRV (or Beast as it’s
have to make sure that any
commonly called by Marines) is
Marine driving those vehicles
a particularly striking transit, its
T
he sandy beach at Instow,
from a holidaymaker’s
eye, looks rather lovely
knows how to waterproof the
Leopard-tank base rears about the
(particularly if you like watching
engine and kit, drive from the
slope before the Beast pivots down
men in green berets).But for
steep ramp of a shifting landing
to land with a satisfying thud upon
landing craft men it offers the
craft headlong into waves
its tracks.
worst case scenario for a beach
at depths of up to man height in
It was dramatic enough on the
landing – a long shallow rise of
inside of the cab, I’ve no notion
1:120.
what it looked like to an outsider.
Nearby there are steep shelving
Although the men and women
beaches, pebble shores, mud flats
who work at Instow are no longer
and riverine crossings, open sea
easily impressed by such feats;
with heavy surf, dune-strewn
day in, day out, LandRovers,
training areas, and sheltered
Vikings, Pinzgauers, MAN trucks,
coastlines that can be used in
Beasts, prototypes, trial vehicles,
almost any conditions.
demonstrators, WW2 DUKWs
There’s nowhere else like this in
roar into and out of the dip tank
the UK offering all these training,
on their way to acceptance, trials,
trialling and experimenting
training or the various other tasks challenges on the doorstep.
that are undertaken in this North Out at sea craft and vessels are
Devon camp. also being put through their paces
Its out-of-the-way location by the combination of marines,
misleads into an out-of-the-way engineers and specialists that are
perception. This is no sleepy housed within Instow’s fence.
hollow, no backwater of dozing An Offshore Raiding Craft
dotage. (ORC) bristling with guns is being
The vast BRV is under the thrown about in the sheltered
careful guardianship of Vehicle waters – this is a possible new
Mechanic Steve Bailey. Its function configuration for the ORC that’s
is inherent in its full name – beach worth is being judged by the men
recovery vehicle, using its hefty of Instow. (“Being bootnecks
weight and impressive strength we wanted guns on it,” I’m told
to pull or push vehicles, landing succinctly.)
craft, even tanks to shore or back This is a gunboat variant
out to sea. with the driver’s console moved
At Instow it is used for amidships, and a heavy cladding
training the green beret Vehicle of armour around its hull.
Mechanics; and to train the To me, it looks impressive. But
landing craft drivers; and to for the Marines on board, there
recover brokendown vehicles; oh are real tactical issues that have to
and there’s only a handful of them be resolved.
in service, and the only people “The expertise here is second
● (top left) A MAN military truck’s ability to cope with salt water is
tested at Instow from an LCU; the Beast (or BRV) pulls an LCVP
ashore
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