Details
Tracker commissioned alongside her sister Raider in January 1998, with Tracker replacing Oxford University Royal Naval Unit's previous training craft, Loyal Chancellor. Tracker and Raider are batch 2 P2000s and are fitted with two MTU V12 diesel engines instead of the Perkins CV12 engines which the rest of the squadron are fitted with, meaning that Tracker and Raider can travel at a higher speed than the batch 1s, mainly as she has sufficient power to get her hull to plane, the hydrodynamic mode in which it was designed to operate.
The ship's company comprises one officer, two senior ratings and two junior ratings who train up to twelve students, undergraduates from Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University or Reading University, for up to fourteen days at a time. During a day's training the students practice navigation and seamanship as well as a wide array of other naval skills. Most of these have been taught in the classroom environment at weekly drill nights during the university term. At sea they carry out many of the functions of the ship's company and as their skill levels increase they can understudy the captain and eventually gain RYA qualifications.
During university term time, Tracker takes students to sea for weekends, with destinations including Weymouth, Cowes, Yarmouth and Poole. During Easter and Summer vacations, the ship deploys for longer periods (four weeks at Easter and six weeks in the summer) and further afield (France, Belgium, Holland, Spain) with students on board for two weeks at a time.
Read more about this topic: HMS Tracker (P274)
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