Navy News
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Silent night for the silent service
26 December 2025
As those at home prepare to pull your crackers and tuck into your turkey, spare a thought for the Royal Navy Submarine Service who are patrolling beneath the waves this festive season.
Since 1969, when the first nuclear deterrent submarine was deployed, there has been at least one ballistic submarine gliding silently under the sea providing the UK’s Continuous at Sea Deterrent with little to no contact with the outside world.
And the mission doesn’t stop on Christmas Day!
When deployed, they operate a continuous six-hours on, six-hours off, duty watch, operating and maintaining more than 30 complex engineering systems which work the nuclear submarine and keep the crew safe.
But in-between duties onboard, Submariners still have the opportunity to celebrate.
The submarines may generate their own air and water, but the crew generate their own Christmas spirit.
As the patrolling vessels usually leave well before the festive season, families often have to purchase presents in advance.
The deploying crewmembers take them onboard, storing them safely away until Christmas Day.
People get creative. In the lead-up to the big day, missile tubes double as a giant advent calendar, counting down to Christmas. Crews enjoy weekly morale-boosting activities like quizzes, mini-golf, table tennis, and even a carol service in the Wardroom, complete with mince pies, sourced months in advance and defrosted for the occasion.
Charities, such as Operation Christmas Box and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, also supply gifts to those deployed over the festive season. The first gift box was produced in 1914 for troops serving in the First World War, with the idea revived in 2004.
“On Christmas Day itself, tradition takes centre stage” the usual Thursday lunch of ‘spuds in mud’ (that’s potatoes in gravy!) gives way to a Christmas feast.
“Everything is prepared by our chefs and served by Heads of Department and the Commanding Officer. Gifts from loved ones and deployment boxes bring a welcome touch of home to the deep.
While the Submariners inevitably miss their families and loved ones back at home, they do their best to celebrate with their submarine family onboard.
“Those on watch on Christmas morning get to open their presents first. Some do it together in the Mess, others with their departments, but quite a few do it quietly on their own.
“All share the same thoughts about their loved ones though, imagining them opening their presents back home.”
It is the thought of being reunited with those families and loved ones that have sustained generations of Submariners as they deliver defence’s number one mission.
Protecting those back at home, every minute or every day, including Christmas Day!