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Prince Harry visits the Royal Navy's fleet diving squadron in Portsmouth as Commodore-in-Chief

31st October 2007

Prince Harry visited the Fleet Diving School in Portsmouth and dived with military personnel during his first visit as Commodore-in-Chief of Small Ships and Diving today.

The 23-year-old Prince was appointed to the position following a move by The Queen and First Sea Lord to strengthen links between the Royal Navy and the Royal Family last year.

The role affiliates Prince Harry with the Navy's patrol vessels and its diving, survey, mine warfare and fishery protection work.

Today Prince Harry, who is a Second Lieutenant with the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals), was in Portsmouth to meet members of the Fleet Diving Squadron, including the Royal Navy bomb disposal unit at its base at Horsea Island, to see the Squadron’s work first-hand.

Royal Navy divers carried out a mock rescue of a casualty at the bottom of the 5m tank while Harry watched.

As Commodore-in-Chief, the Prince was keen to get involved and put on a lightweight dry suit, rubber fins and face mask with underwater radio, before stepping into the fleet diving squadron's training tank.

The Prince then carried out some underwater engineering in the 15C water using a pair of spanners to bolt a pipe to a valve.

Prince Harry took a diving course at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst and has completed dives in Cyprus and Plymouth during his officer training.

The fleet diving squadron provides diving, explosive ordnance disposal and underwater engineering, including battle damage assessment and repair for Navy ships and submarines.

The squadron is split into the Northern Diving Group in Faslane, the Southern Diving Group in Plymouth and Portsmouth and the Fleet Diving Group based at Horsea Island.

Earlier in the day Harry met members of the Portsmouth-based Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Unit.

The 23-year-old Army officer, dressed in Blues and Royals combats, was shown how to explode different types of bombs including limpet mines, letter bombs and Second World War anti-submarine devices found on the seabed.

Prince Harry sparked a laugh when he took control of a bomb disposal vehicle and swung the extending arm towards the press gathered for his visit.

He then used the remote-controlled device to blow open the boot of a car in a mock bomb scare 50m away.

Chief Petty Officer Diver Dan Archer said: "He had a good sense of humour. You could see exactly what he was doing moving that wheelbarrow (bomb disposal vehicle) around.

"He was quite surprised about the work we do. Everyone associates the Navy with ships and not blowing up bombs."

Commanding Officer Peter Greenwood said: "He is a 23-year-old lieutenant in the Army. He has obviously done a lot of training at Sandhurst and he is very up for anything that we have suggested.

"He wanted to come and do a working visit rather than a Royal protocol visit so I structured the programme to fit in with that."

He added: "This is the first time he has actually flown his own personal standard on any visit.”

Prince Harry then visited HMS Severn, Ranger and Shoreham on private visits.

Later Prince Harry will visit HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship, at the HM Naval Base Portsmouth, where he will be given a tour of the ship, receive his Commodore’s pennant, and attend a reception on board of naval officers and ratings.

Click here to read more about Prince Harry's military career.