Sep 18 – Father And Son Join Submarine Family
The recent arrival in Gibraltar of HMS Torbay was an especially poignant moment Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1) ‘Mac’ McLoughlin whose son Engineering Technician (ET) Conor Mcloughlin, who as a newly qualified submariner, was ready to be presented with his submariner ‘Dolphins’.
Commander of British Forces, Commodore Ian McGhie, who has also been a submariner for almost 30 years, awarded ET McLoughlin his ‘Dolphins’ on the jetty. He congratulated his effort and welcomed him to the submarine family.
WO1 McLoughlin, who is currently based at HM Naval Base in Gibraltar, joined the Royal Navy in 1981 looking for a complete career change, he said:
“I was the first member of my family to join the Royal Navy, I used to pack thermal underwear for a living, which is obviously completely different to being a submariner. I feel just like the Royal Navy advert, for me it is definitely ‘Born in Burnley, made in the Royal Navy’. I’ve sailed round the world twice backwards and every way in the last 34 years and have been to sea on every submarine there is except for HMS Artful.”
WO1 McLoughlin and his wife Gloria were delighted to be present when Conor received his ‘Dolphins’, he said:
“Watching my son come in on HMS Torbay is a very different experience for me. It feels like the shoe is on the other foot, this is the first time that I am not the one on the gangway and the first time we had to wait for Conor to come off.
“It was so good to see him presented with his Dophins, I’d really like to thank CBF, HMS Torbay, the Captain, QHM and everyone who has made this possible. It is a proud moment and I’m very grateful, in fact I’m chuffed to bits.”
ET McLoughin joined the Royal Navy in November 2013 and his links to the Royal Navy stem from birth when he was born in Portsmouth. His childhood memories inspired his career choice, he explains:
“I was always proud that my dad was a submariner, it really is something to be proud of. When he was away, it was hard, but it was always worth it when he came back and had stories to tell. Some of the stories that my dad came back and told me were so funny and the places that he went to made me feel jealous, I just thought what could be better than actually doing it myself and have those experiences for myself.”
Although Conor has visited Gibraltar a number of times to visit his family the feeling of sailing into the Naval Base for the first time as a submariner filled him with pride, he said:
“I felt so proud when I was on the bridge coming in and I even more proud to get my Dolphins today. To get them presented alongside all the people I joined up with, it was great, but it was especially good that Glo and my dad were able to be here.”
Photo top left and below: L to R Mrs Gloria McLoughlin, WO1 McLoughlin, ET McLoughlin, CBF, Captain HMS TORBAY Commander Dan Knight.
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