Australian submarine command
officer candidates regularly attend the Submarine Command
[“Perisher”] Course held on board the Dutch conventional submarine Dolphin.
The course starts in
February each year as it likely did this year (2020). If Australian candidates
attended the course this year they may have been exposed to COVID-19. If so
the Australian Department of Defence and Royal Australian Navy should be asked.
On March 30, 2020 the Dutch Ministry of Defence reported that 8 crew members of the Dutch
submarine [in English Dolphin] had
tested positive for COVID-19.
On April 21,
2020 The North Holland Daily Newspaper
(online) reported
(once translated into English): "The COVID-19 outbreak
occurred during the Submarine Command
[“Perisher”] Course held on board the Dolphin. The
Royal Netherlands Navy provides international training for submarine
commanders."
A US Submarine
Officer wrote
that when he attended the Dutch “Perisher” Course in 2005: “I arrived in the
Netherlands in
early February and immediately got underway...onboard [the submarine Dolphin]...The 2005
Netherlands Perisher Course...included students from Australia, Israel, the
Netherlands, Singapore and the U.S.” The US Officer added that “Since
its inception, the [Dutch Navy] Perisher Course has trained foreign officers
from...Brazil, Canada...[South] Korea [and] South Africa.”
PETE COMMENT
So Australian submarine officer students/candidates were on Dolphin in 2005. Were they on Dolphin this year?
1 comment:
Hi Pete
Great post. Are you saying that not only Australian officers may have contracted Coronavirus from the Coronavirus infected Dolphin during the course, but officers from Israel, Singapore, US, Brazil, Canada, South Korea and South Africa??
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