Over 120 British Army divers have sharpened their underwater engineering skills in a treacherous German river.
Hard Hat Diver 'dressing' out of the water, they are connected to the command post via an umbilical hose/line after diving in the river Weser.
Exercise Submerged Shield 2025 brought over 120 Divers of the British Army together to manifest core skills in their specialist trade.
A dive supervisor gives instructions from the river bank.
Divers and their dive attendants embarking on a rigid inflatable boat (RIB)
A soldier (dive attendant) fits dive equipment to his colleague.
Exercise Submerged Shield is an annual exercise previously carried out in the UK and Cyprus. But for training this year, a challenging river in Minden, Germany was selected.
Captain Dan Taylor, 3rd Regiment of Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME), Operations and Training Officer for the exercise, said: “The prime advantage of coming to Germany is the opportunity to conduct scenarios in what we call fast water diving. The Weser, a rapid moving river flowing through Minden, provides ample opportunity to introduce young divers to working underwater.”
Crossing waterways, wet, wide gaps to maintain mobility of our forces, is the primary aim. Armies have been stopped before due to the inability in crossing rivers and presenting themselves as a target.
Lieutenant Colonel Pick, Army Diving Senior Operator, said: “Crossing waterways, wet, wide gaps to maintain mobility of our forces, is the primary aim. Armies have been stopped before due to the inability in crossing rivers and presenting themselves as a target.”
Clearance of ports or waterways, searching for weapons, bodies, recovering or deploying vessels and removing obstacles are only some of the tasks an army diver may encounter.
Assessing underwater infrastructure was another critical skill practised by the divers.
Staff Sergeant Lee Fantham, a unit diving officer, said: “This is known as Port Enablement where a check of underwater railing system is conducted so the harbour authority can launch a ship back into the water the following day.”
Combat engineers working underwater used ultra-thermic cutting tools, operating at 3,200 degrees Celsius, to cut through steel, concrete or any obstacle. For example, a sunken car in a waterway stopping shipping would be cut into pieces underwater then removed to clear a path for ships to pass.
Hydraulic chainsaws and chipping hammers are also used when obstacle clearances are conducted. Underwater glue can potentially patch sunken vessels and float them to the surface for removal.
Captain Dan Taylor added, “Army divers primarily carry out engineering works which just happen to be underwater. Diving skills are a means to get the combat engineer to the place of work.
“In comparison to Navy divers, Army divers concentrate on underwater engineering skills.”
Army diving is not for the faint hearted. It is dangerous, arduous and demands a high standard of fitness. Divers are weighed down with 23 kilos of diving equipment as well as the engineering tools needed for what can be immense tasks.
In case of medical emergency, Navy doctors from the Institute of Naval Medicine were attached to the exercise and educated personnel on best practice for dealing with diving related injuries and risks.
On this exercise, we formed groups from different units who normally would not work together. This way they will learn from each other, benefit from exchanging experiences and learn to trust each other, a vital part of working as a team.
Captain Dan Taylor said: “On this exercise, we formed groups from different units who normally would not work together. This way they will learn from each other, benefit from exchanging experiences and learn to trust each other, a vital part of working as a team.”
Exercise Submerged Shield has run since 2014, bringing together all Army divers, including those from 16 Air Assault Brigade, 3 Commando Brigade and 17 Port & Maritime Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps.
