HMS Albion

Military experience

Commander Nick Washer was educated at Stanley Deason High School and Brighton, Hove and Sussex VI Form College. He read physics with mathematics at Reading University and after graduating in 1990, joined the Royal Navy on a short career commission. After initial training at Britannia Royal Naval College he deployed to the Mediterranean, in HMS Bristol for sea training, where he was selected for transfer to a full career commission.

Nick is married to Shena. They live in Hampshire with their three children Rebecca (1999) and Charlotte (2001) and Peter (2004). In the little spare time he has with a young family, he is an enthusiastic but unaccomplished golfer and also enjoys squash, cycling and watching rugby. He has a passion for fine wine, theatre, reading and cinema and has a varied musical taste, which fuels his perseverance for learning to play the guitar, if not mastering it!

Early appointments included HMS Edinburgh and HMS Sheffield, in the latter as the Signal Communications Officer where he saw service in the Arctic Circle and the Adriatic. Subsequently, he sub specialized as a Fighter Controller, joining HMS Southampton in October 1994; he deployed to the West Indies where he was involved in the disaster relief operations arising from the eruption of Montserrat’s volcano and the hurricane devastation in Anguilla.

Post initial staff training he qualified as a Principal Warfare Officer in 1998, specialising in communications and electronic warfare. Thereafter, he was appointed to stand by HMS Ocean in build, serving as the PWO and subsequently the Operations Officer for her first operational deployment which included earthquake relief operations in Turkey. He joined HMS Illustrious in February 2000, as the Fleet Flagship’s Group Warfare Officer responsible for communications and saw operational service in the Gulf and Sierra Leone and latterly in support of post 9/11 Coalition operations East of Suez, Operation Oracle.

Between July 2002 and June 2004, he commanded HMS Atherstone, a Hunt Class Mine Counter Measures Vessel. For the majority of his tenure, Atherstone was tasked with fishery protection duties during which time the Ship was awarded the Soberton Trophy in recognition of the ship’s endeavours on patrol. Thereafter, he attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course(ACSC 8), during which he was selected for promotion to Commander. Post course, he assumed the role of Commander Surface Platforms, at the Maritime Warfare Centre, responsible for Surface Flotilla and Littoral Manoeuvre Tactical Development, in addition to NATO and Australia/Canada/US/UK Coalition doctrine development. In his time at MWC, he was integral in establishing and developing Operational Knowledge Exploitation as a Fleet wide concept and the refreshing of the ‘lessons identified’ process.

On leaving MWC, he deployed to US Central Command, in October 2007, an operational tour of duty with the Senior British Military Advisor staff, where he had particular responsibility for the Horn of Africa, the Levant and all things Maritime; a role in which he was required to provide an information and influence conduit between MOD, PJHQ and US CENTCOM. In July 2008 he joined as Directing Staff on the Advanced Command and Staff Course, where he taught Campaigning, Defence and Military studies, latterly being the Executive Officer for one of the Divisions. He took up his current appointment as ‘The Commander’ (XO) of HMS Albion in September 2010 and assumed Command in December 2011 for the Lay Up preparations period.