No Submarine Command Course has taken place since November 2025, and the Royal Navy schedules the course to maintain sufficient suitably qualified personnel to meet defence requirements, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative member for Huntingdon, asked for the reason no course had run since then, following up an answer given on 16 October.
Calvin Bailey, the Minister for Veterans and People, said: “The Royal Navy schedules the Submarine Command Course to maintain sufficient suitably qualified personnel to meet Defence requirements.”
The Submarine Command Course, known throughout the service as Perisher, is the qualifying course for command of a British submarine. Candidates who pass take command appointments; those who fail leave the submarine service and, by tradition, leave the boat immediately. It is run by the Submarine Command Course Teacher, a serving officer who holds that post, and combines attack training in simulators with sea phases against surface ships.
Royal Navy submarine availability has been under scrutiny for some time, with the Defence Committee reporting this month that it is not clear the attack submarine force is putting to sea as often as it should, and ministers declining to put availability figures on the public record.
I have on a number of occasions made the point that with navy’s small is not beautiful and it does not make for a high quality navy.
There is a rule in maritime power and conflict and that is mass matters more than the power of individual ships.
In history the largest navy has about 90%+ of the time won the major maritime wars ( not individual battles but the whole conflict )
This is because:
1) to have the best training, most experienced crews and most effective strategy and tactics you have to practice your craft and a large navy simply has far more sea time.. a Nelson or Rodney and their captains and crew were a product of mass in motion.
2) Being there/ presence. the sea is vast and naval conflict is inherently mobile, this means the side that turns up at a particular place or time wins if the enemy is not there.. that’s why the 290 flowers class corvettes had far more influence on WW2 than the RNs battle fleet…
3) fire power equations.. 2 ships each with half the firepower of 1 ship will beat the 1 ship.. its maths apparently, the US naval war college did the maths.
In this case we can see what a lack of mass is doing to the command structure and experience of the RNs submarine force.