NEW HEADQUARTERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24405, 17 September 1940, Page 3

NEW HEADQUARTERS

THE DUNEDIN R.N.V.R. MODERN EQUIPMENT ! MAINTAINING A NOTABLE RECORD Remarkably well equipped and attractively finished throughout, the new headquarters in Dunedin of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve are well suited for the efficient training of Otago youths anxious to serve their Empire in the Royal Navy. Since the outbreak of war men from the Dunedin R.N.V.R. have entered the navy, and are serving all over the'world. In the past year 10 officers. 35 ex-R.N.V.R. men. and 130 reservists have been despatched for service with the navy, and further drafts will be sent from lime to time. With the new training facilities, there is every reason for this record to be maintained and probably improved upon. Well-appointed Building With its large hall, lecture rooms, offices, officers’ and men’s quarters, and storerooms. (he new headquarters provide full facilities for all branches of the unit’s activities. The training hall itself is spacious, well lighted, and attractively plastered, with a wellnigh pc’-fect, oiled floor. There are two lecture rooms, one of which can be divided by means of sliding doors, and there is a ; fully-equipped wireless room with a wireless cabin attached. Near the entrance to the building are the ship’s office, the commanding officer’s cabin, and the officers’ wardroorm with a pantry alongside and a shower room, with hot and ccld showers. The men’s quarters are similarly well provided with a pantry and shower rooms, and there is also a petty officers’ and leading seamen’s mess; A large clothing store has been provided, and there is also a canteen.

Two interesting features of the new headquarters are the gas chamber and the signal tower, which is at present under construction The men are required to undergo a test in the gas chamber with their gas masks in position and the chamber filled with gas. The tower is still under construction, but when it is completed it will provide an interesting addition to the main building. It will be equipped just like a ship’s bridge, and will also have a searchlight and signal station. Alongside it. a rifle range is being built.

Practically everything that is required for the successful training of men for the navy is contained in the main hall. At the southern end are two four-inch naval guns, complete with modern range-finding and sighting equipment. Mounted on concrete emplacements, these are - similar to the guns used on modern warships. Along the west wall is a platform resembling portion of the dock and a minesweeper, and on this is full equipment for minesweeping. This equipment comprises an Oropesa sweep, with its gailypainted French float and its kite. Nearby is a ship’s derrick with which a concrete block can be hauled through a trapdoor in the floor just as a heavy piece of cargo is hauled from a ship's hold. A bench with full equipment for wire-splicing is another piece of equipment for minesweeping instruction. Ample Training Facilities There are numerous other items of equipment that are as interesting to the layman as they are impoi’tant in the training of men for the navy of to-aay. Many of the weapons of sea w; rfare that are becoming almost household words are to be seen at the R.N.V.R. headquarters. There is a tornedo that dangerous weapon of submarines and surface craft, and there

Tie depth charges, the greatest menace te under-water vessels. Two paravanes. with their mouths of knife-like shark’s teeth for cutting the cables of mines, are interesting gear, and there are numerous other items of equipment less spectacular but essential in the training of voung naval men. The daily syllabus of R.N.V.R. ratings mobilised for training at the new headquarters is a full and well-varied one. The daily routine begins with physical exercises at 8.30. and training in all kinds of naval work continues until 5 p.m.. with a break for lunch between 12 and 1.15. All who join the R.N.V.R. are enthusiastic and inter-ested in' their work, and a fine spirit prevails in all ranks —a spirit that has made the Royal Navy the unsurpassable fighting service that it is.