#10 I did that course on HMS Calliope about 1960 John , I was second mate coming off a ship in Smith’s Drydock at midnight and the gates were locked so climbed over the wall and jumped and sprained an ankle. shipping doctor would not pass me fit for sea duties and I refusd to sign on the sick as the company wanted ,as was on contract and said it was their problem ,so they sent me for the merchant navy defence course on Calliope . At the end of the course we got 5 guineas from the Admiralty which I didn’t tell the Owners about or they would of had it off me. It was the time of the Cuban blockade so some of the info.came in useful .Apart from the ABC warfare and the 300 knot gunsights for 600 knot aircraft , the usual talks on convoy work which would be a repeat of the last war drew a lot of anti convoy from a lot of the students who had experienced it themselves during the hostility’s they had experienced. Anyhow I was 5 guineas richer and a lot wiser about life expectancy If war had been declared during that period. Today the world is closer to war than it even was during the Cuban crisis. Cheers JS,