I just realized that Commodore Thompson has to be around 70 years old when this was filmed. Which is amazing because from looking at him moving around i would have guessed he was maybe 50 years old. Honestly an amazing guide you got for this video. His anecdotes made the whole tour even more interesting.

Dan really blasted through this guys stories and switched the subject very fast. Slow down mate, we’re here to listen and learn.

You can see so many times where Eric is about to tell a story only to be interrupted by the interviewer, I am not sure if there was tight time restrictions but it would have been nice to hear more from him

I served on the USS Bremerton (SSN-698) as a nuclear trained electrician. It took two years of training before I even saw a submarine. It takes approximately one more year after arriving on the boat to become fully qualified as both a nuclear plant operator and earning your dolphins as a qualified submariner. I spent four years on the sub (total of six years) and achieved the rank of EM1(SS) before leaving the navy at the end of my enlistment. IMO, if you enlist in the Navy, going to submarines is the best option if you have to go to sea on a naval vessel. Best training. Best food. Best crew members. Best port calls. Extra pay. Rapid advancement. No seasickness. Small crew (approx. 120). The only drawback is while at sea, you cannot go topside and see the sun and when you go to sea, you can be underwater for months at a time. The limiting factor for how long you stay at sea is how much food you can carry. They generally go to sea with a 90 day food supply. The longest I ever stayed underwater in one shot was 77 days.

This video could have been 3 hours long and I would have watched every second of it. This guy had some fascinating stories and such an excellent way of presenting them. Its a shame they were short on time.

Please, for the love of our history, let this man tell us his stories. Let us hear them, uninterrupted, before his knowledge is lost, and the lessons lost with him.

Please, more videos with the Commodore! I love his enthusiasm to share information and little stories

I visited the submarine museum while on active duty with the US Navy when stationed on USS Seahorse (SSN 669) during a port call. The old diesel boats are neat to look over. As to the comment on how submariners feel about surface dwellers, we had the same thoughts, "there are only 2 types of ships, submarines and targets". MM1(SS) USN retired.

This takes me back to my own time as a junior officer, hearing seniors tell tales of their experiences. Totally riveting. No pretension, no sensationalism, just real stories of their trials and tribulations. More like this, please!

I've just read Commodore Erics book - thoroughly brilliant read about the really interesting career of a man who in his first few months at sea was at the point of being kicked out and eventually became a flag officer, a leader of 4000 people, an MBE for leading the team that averted potentially the first nuclear disaster on a Polaris boat, and also put forward so many ideas that are now standard doctrine. A fascinating man.

Loved Commodore Thompson's perspective on human waste disposal. I was a nuclear power electrician on a U.S. fast attack in the 1970's. Human waste disposal was a constant topic and often a source of wonderful humor. Here is a story.... One time when we pulled into port and shut down the reactor I was standing the shutdown reactor operator watch and my friend Jack was the engineering roving watch. He came to maneuvering, where I was, and told me he was going to blow number 3 sanitary, a 300 gallon tank blistered on the hull in engine room lower level. After 20 minutes or so I hear this very loud open throat-ed roar. Thinking we have water coming in the boat I grab the flood control actuators to shut all the engine room hull valves. Jack appears with a huge grin and told me he just blew number 3 inboard. Ha! I asked why. Turns out he couldn't get it to go overboard. He checked his valve line up multiple times and all was in order. So he increased the air pressure. No go. Finally he maxed out the air pressure. So he had a problem. 300 gallons under full pressure. What to do. He opened the 4 inch manual ball valve on the bottom of the commode, shut the head door, and cycled the 4 inch hydraulic ball valve just above number 3. Given the huge pressure, 300 gallons quickly exited number 3, blew open the door on the head, and soiled the aft engine room. Some of it drilled handily through the cracks between the little doors covering storage bins that we only accessed when we needed a spare. So years later we'ed open that bin and there would be this dry, brown spider web. Jack was legend. He cheerfully did the substantial clean up.

Commodore Thompson defines the word "expert" in every way.

Dan Snow, three tips for interviewers: a) Let the person you're interviewing speak. That's what makes a video interesting. Not you. b) Don't shout. There's no need for it. c) Close your mouth when you're not talking. Thank you Eric for a very interesting and knowledgeable tour, I'm motivated to pay a visit on the back of watching your tour.

Seems like one of those guys who could talk for days and still deliver gem after gem of lived first hand experience on these things. A true expert and enthusiast. Such a shame this video could be 10x as long! I also get the impression the reporter here didn't really do much justice to this clearly brilliant man and just wanted to hammer on his questions and romanticise the whole thing.

I came from the west of Ireland to visit this, I had a brilliant time

Wow! I could listen to Commodore Eric all day!

Commodore Thompson is such a great guy, could’ve listened to him all day top stuff.

Just found this. Absolutely fascinated by Subs since a kid. This is my brother-in-law's boat. He was a baby sailor, then Merchant Marine, immigrated to NZ and then on Tugs. Nothing beats Wellington Harbour at midnight on a mirror flat sea, pulling a container ship out under afull moon! Wonderful memory. HMS Alliance visit is on my bucket list as are others.

Twenty eight minutes and fifty seven seconds of bliss......full length, unrushed, documentary would be great.

Well worth a visit! I was there several years ago and the ship looks better now than it did then! If Commodore Eric Thompson is there you are in for a treat, also at Gosport sub museum was a very early example of a submersible vessel that you could have fitted in HMS Alliance about ten times over and it had a very few crew members and dates from the very early submarine days. Hopefully still there on show. Thanks for this and well done Dan as usual.

The Commodore is EXTREMELY interesting! I would love to see an entire video dedicated to him telling his war stories. Very entertaining.

What a fantastic guest and guide. Very knowledgeable, I feel I could sit with him in the legion and listen to his stories forever!

Absolutely fascinating. I could listen to him all day.

I could have watched a 28 minutes video with the Commodore in each compartment - description of how each system worked would be amazing!

I love the human element of having an experienced submariner explaining life onboard. It's easy to get caught up in the machine, and forget that humans operate it, and all humans poop... We had a fire on one of the ships I sailed in when I worked with the RCN. Getting toilet facilities running was major health issue, as we had nearly 300 people onboard, and no working heads.

Wish you would have let him finish speaking half the time instead of interrupting for another question...

What an extraordinary gentleman. The stories and the knowledge he has on submarines is second to none. I’m working in the area, will have to visit it tomorrow.

Very interesting. Great to have someone with this level of experience to provide an in depth tour.

My father served on the HMS Artimis which was a sister ship to the alliance, i took him to walk though this for fathers days around 6 years ago. It was funny as he gave us a inside tour guide and by the end of the tour most of the group was listening to him

Submariners saying, "There are only two types of sea going vessel........Submarines and targets"

Small world, I served on board HMCS Rainbow (sub) an old diesel boat in the early 70,s . One of our buddies was PO. Bill Howatson . He served on the "A" boats as a Canadian exchange sailor. A good friend and nice man.

What a fascinating chap. One could listen to all the anecdotal stories re 'The Trade' all day long. I had a relative sunk on probably the predecessor to that boat in the Med during WWII. Sadly he never made it. Really looking forward to going to that museum though.

Could listen to this man all day! What wonderful knowledge and a lovely man! Thank you!

What a brilliant artefact! I love visiting the sub museum and the historic dockyard, though I haven’t been in a while due to the whole thing.

Love Eric’s descriptions and read one of his books. Seems like he had a lot more to say! Follow up video!?

I would like to hear more about Commodore Eric Thompsons experiences in "boats" and the engineering behind it all. Thanks for a great video!!

Good to see the old Alliance again. I served on the Oberon class boats based at Dolphin and went aboard the Alliance a couple of times. The O boats were more advanced and their design was heavily influenced by the German type VII boats as German submarine technology was more advanced. It's a shame that there isn't an O boat at the museum too, though there are a couple at other bases. The Ocelot is at Chatham. I'd like to see you do a similar video of her.

Couldnt have picked a more knowledgeable man

This channel along with a handful of others are my favorites on youtube. I absolutely adore military history.

Amazing there! I only live 1/2 a mile away from it and see the beauty everyday on my way to work.

An enjoyable tour through a British RN diesel electric Submarine. Dan Snow has presented many a worthwhile documentary covering a wide range of topics but none better (subjectively speaking) than this one here as we tour the inside of HMS Alliance.

Brings back memories of HMS/M Walrus and HMS/M Oracle on which I served during the Cold War.

very relaxed and enjoyable. He is one of those people you could happily sit and listen to for ages, hearing all his stories and things. Hillarious point to end on. 🙂

In 1972 as 3 years old I visited a Danish submarine in dock for repairs in Copenhagen. It still remember the cramped long narrow space and all the handles and controls everywhere, it looked not much different from this one. My granddad worked on the place. It was my father who had the interest, but he wasn't allowed in (restricted military area). I was so little that I couldn't be a Soviet spy so I was allowed.

I was born, raised and still live in Gosport. I pass this daily.

Brilliant! Thank you! ....severely underrated video!

Commander Thompson, thank you for your service and the great knowledge which you gave to us during your submarine tour by way of this video.

I could never be in such tight quarters for 1,2,3, 4 weeks or longer. You had to be a special person to serve aboard a ww2 submarine.

'We're out of torpedoes sir.' 'Never mind. Hit 'em with eight cans of beer.'

What an incredible man, and a great interview. If only paid TV was as good! Thank you!

Eric Thompson was my MEO on HMS/M REVENGE (P) back in the 70s. I'm sure he'll remember my best friend and best man Bungy Mcwilliams and the big steam leak fiasco.

My uncle was Alliance cook. There was food stashed everywhere at the beginning of a voyage.

I naval reserves in the early 90's (serving on the river class minesweepers) and we used to have problems with the females flushing their sanitary towels down the head. They usually jammed the blades that minced up the waste before it was deposited in the 'domestic services' tank. The stokers would have to dismantle the mechanism and clean it by hand. That usually resulted in them coming into the junior rate's mess and asking 'who does this belong to then'? as they held the troublesome item aloft.

Absolutely gorgeous boat! Until watching this, I wasn't aware that there was still a British Second World War era (design) sub still in existence! My knowledge of the Royal Navy submarine service during the War is very limited / almost nil as the exploits of the Kriegsmarine U-boats are a subject that I'm far more familiar with. The control room on this boat looks quite a bit bigger than the control room of a German Type 9, but it looks to be an incredibly similar layout in there!

That was absolutely fascinating and the Commodore was a very intelligent and entertaining man…

Fascinating. Commodore Thompson really brought being in a. submarine to life.

According to my research, Dan Snow (the host) is a healthy 6’6”. He is 5” taller than me and about a foot taller than the average crew member of a submarine back then... Talk about watching your head!

Visited her a couple of years ago, absolutely brilliant tour. I think they should have HMS Conqueror as an exhibit as well

Very informative and certainly educational. Absolute Marvel ENGINEERING! U boats inside are a maze of comp,ex pipes, valves, cables etc...........fantastic.

A Con Rod connects the Piston to the the Crankshaft. The Push Rods push the rockers (the exposed rockers in this case) which open and close the valves. Great presentation on the sub.

This man knows his stuff. And, he's not shy about touching the wares. He knows who he is. Thank you, sir. ;-)

Could speak to this guy for weeks

What a fascinating tour. I'm glad you let the Commodore talk on, he is like my elderly neighbour, could go on for hours, so needing the occasional reminder to jumps ahead lol.

Great tour and interview. What a pleasent and knowledgeable guide.

I've been in it. My grandfather was a Chief Petty officer in the Royal Navy. He and my Grandmother lived in Gosport where this is.

Absolute class video - Ill just bought Thompsons book, looking forward to the read.

Brilliant. What a guy. So much knowledge and completely engaging.

HMS Andrew starred in the film "On The Beach". It played the part of an American Submarine that sailed into Melbourne, Australia, after a nuclear exchange in the northern hemisphere. Also staring HMAS Sydney.

This was an amazing interview…submariners are very unique fellows.

I could listen to his stories and info all day long

What a video! Absolutely superb as ever.

Thank you for the Tour.

Worth the trip out of Portsmouth. Also - if you time it right- there is a scuba diving museum in Gosport.

The Commodore, what a great bloke………🖖👌

The A class boats, after their refits, were absolutely gorgeous boats. As were the Porpoise and Oberons.

Fascinating , what a wealth of knowledge.

Beautifully preserved boat...such an interesting man, Commodore Thompson.

Now that was fascinating. Many thanks.

My grandfather served on this out in Singapore

thank you dan ma man! and commodore thompson thank you !

Wow... amazing interview with a great and so knowledgeable guy. Thanks!

My Grand uncle Bill started out flying a Bi-plane, and finished his career in a Lightening. It was an amazing generation to live through i feel, we have not seen progress at that speed for many years.

Caught me off guard when he mentioned Whipp and Borune from Rochdale (Castleton) I live a stones throw away in Heywood and golf in Castleton.

0:33 The museum isn't in Portsmouth, it's just over the water in neighbouring Gosport.

Me instead of Dan Snow: What's this? And this? And this? And what about this? And what does that do? And what's this? ad infinitum.

What a great guy. Could have listened way more of his stories

Could listern to this intresting chap all day , well done sir

This is amazing

so good, thank you

Absolutely fascinating stuff from an absolutely fascinating commodore

This is brilliant, glad to hear a engineer going through all the details of the systems

Fascinating!!

Excellent video I worked on the building of two class subs from 1959 Then two polaris subs and a hunter/killer later

Absolutely fascinating.

A great video, except when he mentioned the years 1969-1970 as a long time ago:). I was 17 years old in 1970 and It makes me feel old.

How fascinating was that, well explained Mr Thompson

Lovely and informative video, surprised how similar WWII British and Germany submarines were in layout design.

mad buggers...more courage in their finger nails than in my whole aged body... We will remember them.

I visited hms alliance late 80s as a primary school kid, but never really took it in - I'm now disabled, so can't access it; thankfully this is a good substitute. I spent years sailing out of the joint services sailing centre which is literally in the shadow of the submarine

Fascinating Insight into a Submariners life in the Cold War. Particularly interesting to me as I spent the 1960's in the RAF on the V Bomber force.