How did my Navy electronics training help me with problem-solving?

Well, to start with, I wasn’t that good. What do you expect from a 15-year-old scrawny kid?

I grew up in a British Royal Navy family. We travelled a lot. In the 1950s and 1960s, only the wealthy and the military travelled abroad. For the everyday Joe, the annual holiday was usually a wet and windy Butlins holiday camp on one of the many ‘all the fun of the fair’ seaside resorts dotted around the British coastline.

At age 15, I left school and set off by train to Ipswich, England. There, with hundreds of other boys, I was met at the station and herded onto old buses for the long journey to Shotley Point and HMS Ganges.

One year of marching, small arms practice, swimming, marching, sailing, and otherwise having a bloody good time! Oh! I almost forgot, and don’t trust a PTI (Physical Training Instructor). I broke my arm in the gym!

When my year was up, I travelled to what was for me back ‘home’ to Gosport and HMS Collingwood, the Royal Navy electrical engineering training base. Now, at 16, I was first introduced to mnemonics. This was used to teach me to remember the resistor colour codes. To this day, over 50 years later, I can still remember the resistor colour codes and their respective values.

When I completed my basic electrical training, I was just 17 and packed off to my first ship, HMS Albion R07, a commando carrier converted from a light fleet aircraft carrier. I didn’t do much during my short time aboard Albion. Most of the time, I followed the leading hand, carrying his tool bag and doing as I was told. I was allowed to use the testing meter to check the many valves still in use in many large HF and VHF cabinets, predating the transistors’ introduction! Albion was old! I was aboard Albion for the extensive NATO exercise around Harstad, Norway, in late September 1972. Nice cruise, though. Cold, but spectacular scenery.

In October of the same year, we were off again across the Atlantic to Canada. The first stop was Saint John, New Brunswick, to offload 42 Commando for their war games with the Canadian forces. Then, we set sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a few weeks of R&R.

Mid-November saw us collect the “Green Death” and sail back across the Atlantic. R07 was then “Paid Off” and scrapped.

In contrast to the size and age of my last ship, my next one was the newest and smallest frigate in the fleet. A one-off general-purpose frigate—HMS Mermaid F76. I was still testing valves and a bit of soldering, but otherwise, I was still the tea boy and having a jolly good time. My assigned station was the rear radio room by the aft companionway, just forward of the helipad.

Great times on Mermaid. Good shipmates. Lots of laughs. Once, we sailed to Gibraltar as a guard ship for a month. This was July ‘73 and coincided with my 18th birthday. In the UK and most of Europe, 18 is the legal drinking age. My Chief relieved me of my duties as an electrician and arranged behind my back with the Bosun to join the Buffer’s Party (general cleaning duties 24 hours on duty, 24 hours off duty). So, every other day off while in Gibraltar—cool! Catalan Bay, here I come! Oh! And the Tartan Bar!

F76 was sold to the Royal Malaysian Navy and renamed KD Hang Tuah, retaining her pennant number, 76. She is currently at the Naval Base at Lumat, Malaysia, but will be permanently moved to the Maritime Museum in Malaka, Malaysia.

Back to the question: “How did my Navy electronics training help me become a better problem solver?“

Many events over the 4-year period I served in the Royal Navy changed me. But in short, discipline, patience and resilience. Following orders. Taking time to learn. Not being put off by failure.

As a teenager, failure happens often! At 15, I was weak, physically and mentally. At 19, I was a different person. There is no question that service in the military toughens you up, and I have no regrets about my service in the Royal Navy.

The discipline, patience and resilience set me up for life as a British Rail Signalman and later a career as a Software Engineer.

Stay curious and keep exploring,

Paul.