A former Salford University student is the latest addition to the Royal Navy’s specialist diver team after passing a gruelling Ministry of Defence training programe.
Able Seaman Diver Martin Bosson, 24, received his certificate at the MOD Defence Diving School after a 6-month course at the school’s headquarters on Horsea Island in Portsmouth harbour.
Divers in this field are trained in bomb and mine disposal for both conventional and improvised weaponry and can be dispatched all over the world.
Many divers are currently on missions in Afghanistan.
An unexploded WW2 device is attached to a float so crews can study it
Martin joined the Navy following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was also in the services, and says completing the course has been the highlight of his career so far.
Part of his new role will be to carry out underwater engineering tasks, as well as providing specialist military assistance to authorities across the globe.
Earlier this month a team from Northern Diving Group were called to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Isles to deal with a Second World War German torpedo thought to be one of those fired at Wartime battleship HMS Royal Oak.
The team dived to the seabed to attach explosive charges, detonating the torpedo and rendering it safe.
Orkney Torpedo destroyed in a controlled explosion © MOD
Able Seaman Diver Martin Bosson congratulated by Commander Andrew Woollven
A Royal Navy Clearance Diver spends months training in underwater search, engineering and explosives training.
Diving in zero visibility is common and underwater tasks are both physically and psychologically demanding.
All Navy clearance divers and Army divers carry out their basic training on the south coast before moving north to the Royal Navy’s base at Faslane in Scotland.
Commander Simon Pressdee, who has responsibility for all diving and explosive ordnance capability in the Royal Navy, said Martin’s passing training was a summation of his “determination, integrity, versatility and endurance skills”.
The 24-year-old will now move from his home in Warrington to one of three area teams in Scotland, Portsmouth or Plymouth.
Main image: Royal Navy Clearance Divers from the Ice Patrol Vessel HMS Protector are pictured diving beside an iceberg near Detaille Island, Antarctica © Crown Copyright 2013
