Former Torquay schoolboys 'reunited' by Royal Navy

Two former Torquay schoolboys will cross paths for an amazing tenth time in their careers as they are reunited by the Royal Navy.

Lieutenant Commander ‘Nobby’ Clark and Lieutenant ‘Chats’ Harris were both standing on Britannia Royal Naval College's parade ground in Dartmouth together in the latest twist of fate.

Nobby and Chats first worked together over 30 years ago as part of the engineering maintenance team at the college. Currently, Nobby is on the staff at BRNC as Officer in Charge of Initial Officer Training, while Chats will be commissioned as a Royal Navy Officer having previously served as a rating for 36 years.

But this friendship goes back even further than their Naval careers.

Having first met at primary school aged eight, they continued to secondary school with both attending what was then called Audley Park, now Torquay Academy. From school, Chats joined the Navy in 1989 age 16, with Nobby joining two years later in 1991 age 17. From the very start of their Naval careers, they have followed each other around the globe. 

When Nobby, a then Petty Officer, was assigned to HMS Somerset in 1996 on a six-month deployment to the Falklands, Chats also joined the ship. Both have conducted a vast array of operations, holding lasting memories with some of the best together including, sledging on cooking trays in South Georgia and visiting Shackleton’s grave while surrounded by penguins and elephant seals.three

Their families have also been a part of this amazing journey with both Nobby and Chats' families having worked, lived, and played football in the Bay. Together the families have joined them on port visits to Fort Lauderdale and even sailed with them for three days to the Bahamas as part of one of their deployments. 

Nobby and Chats said of their unique work/life friendship: “Although our careers have taken different pathways, we have always remained good friends. Even though we may not see each other for years due to the nature of the job, when we do, it is always nice to see a friendly face and spend time with someone you can have a laugh with.

“When we left school neither of us were educationally qualified to become engineering officers and we never thought it was achievable. However, we both made a great career choice that suited our characters and natural desire to always do our best.  Now we are both commissioned Officers it shows that in the right environment and with the right people encouraging and supporting you it is amazing what can be achieved if you are enthusiastic, passionate and willing to work hard.”

After commissioning as a Royal Navy Officer Chats will return to Cheltenham before going on to be the Engineering Officer of HMS Tamar and Nobby will continue in the role of Officer Commanding Naval Training, a role at the very heart of Naval Officer training.

Until they meet again, they continue their journey as Royal Navy Officers and lifelong friends.