Hydraulic systems are commonplace on modern ships and submarines with diverse applications in gunnery, missile systems, lifts, steering gear, hydraulic planes, periscopes, and many others.
The Royal Navy uses specialist hydraulic training facilities at HMS Collingwood (Weapons Engineering) and HMS Sultan (Maritime Engineering) to give its engineering students an understanding of current systems which in turn helps them to get to grips with the advanced theory that will allow some of them to go on and design new hydraulic systems to meet the requirements of the future fleet.
HMS Collingwood facilities manager, Malcolm Jordan, explained how the German-made Festo training equipment will benefit the Engineering Technicians (ETs) attending the MWS:
"What we had was brilliant in its day, but it was 25 years old and very limited," he said. "It was a little bit advanced for the basic courses and it was probably too basic for our advanced courses so only the students on the middle course actually got to use it.
"What we've got now is completely versatile and can be used for students at all stages of their training.
"On the opening day we actually had four of the pieces of equipment rigged up to operate in sequence," Malcolm continued.
"Once the Commander pushed the button we got four hydraulic movements resulting in the unveiling flag being pulled off hydraulically rather than by hand. It was quite novel."
The official opening of the new facility was presided over by Commander Trevor Price, the budget holder for LSC funding at Naval Training Command under the Flag Officer Sea Training programme.
Funded by the Learning Skills Council, the facility includes a new computer suite and software which will enable advanced trainees to consolidate their hydraulic training into design projects that can be built and proved on the Festo trainers.