 This is an excellent opportunity for the Sea Cadets of Gloucestershire to find out what life on a Naval vessel is like. | | Lieutenant David Crowe |
Youngsters from Stroud, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, and Ross-on-Wye boarded HMS Trumpeter and HMS Charger as they were moored at Gloucester Docks. The idea was to get an informative tour of the ships, and to be able to ask the crew about their life at sea and the career options open to them. The ships are currently in week seven of their eight-week summer deployment which started in Liverpool. Visits so far have included Ostend, Antwerp, the Channel Islands, Bristol, and now Gloucester. The captain of HMS Trumpeter, Lieutenant David Crowe, said, "We are one of the few Royal Navy ships of a small enough size to come into Gloucester. "This is an excellent opportunity for the Sea Cadets of Gloucestershire to find out what life on a naval vessel is like. "As Cadets these young people obviously have a great interest in the Royal Navy and so hopefully they will use this opportunity to see the benefits of a naval career firsthand, and gather any information they need on the types of skills and qualifications they could receive if they joined the Service." One of the youngsters who got a chance to look around HMS Trumpeter was 13-year-old James McGhee who attends Tewkesbury Sea Cadets. He was thrilled by the experience. "It was really good," he said. "You feel powerful when you're behind the steering wheel because you've got a big boat that you're sat controlling, and it's worth a lot of money. "I thinks its really good. If I went on it it would encourage to me to join the navy." Another member of Tewkesbury Sea Cadets, 12-year-old Daniel McDonald, said "I was expecting it to be slightly bigger but its just as good as I thought. "I can't wait to join the navy and I hope I enjoy it". Shortly after the boys had looked around the boats HMS Trumpeter and HMS Charger headed back down the river Severn back to Sharpness and on to North Somerset. 
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Sea Cadets from across Gloucestershire got the chance to climb aboard two university training ships at Gloucester docks on Tuesday August 3 2004. 
