Thursday War Explained

A Thursday War is the colloquial name given in the Royal Navy for the weekly war-fighting and damage control exercises that are held during Fleet Operational Sea Training (FOST), so named because they are usually held on a Thursday. FOST is responsible for ensuring that Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels are fit to join the operational fleet by testing vessels' readiness through a series of drills and exercises.^[1] These culminate in the so-called 'Thursday War', war-fighting scenarios designed to test a ship's company's reaction to various situations and emergencies.^{[2] [3]}

Typically a 'Thursday War' involves a range of scenarios which include the vessel undergoing simulated attacks by aircraft, missiles and submarines; sustaining damage and casualties, and testing the crew's ability to fight fire, floods and deal with personnel injuries while underway. The exercise is designed to test the ship's operational readiness to fight in a real war situation and is the culmination of the FOST training period.^{[4] [5]}

See also

• Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) - US Navy predeployment exercise

External links

• Photo of taking part in a 'Thursday War'
• Web site: Low flying during a Royal Navy Thursday War . DizzleWAFU . 1 October 2010 . YouTube. Video of a FRADU Hawk aircraft low flying over Royal Naval warships.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Allison . George . Flag Officer Sea Training organisation renamed . ukdj . 29 June 2020.
2. Web site: Navy marks 50th year of world-renowned training . Royal Navy History . 4 June 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110930032547/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Navy_marks_50th_year_of_world-renowned_training . 30 September 2011.
3. News: George Bush bound for Portsmouth after war games with Royal Navy . 23 May 2011 . . 13 April 2019 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110602004340/http://www.navynews.co.uk/news/1195-george-bush-bound-for-portsmouth-after-war-games-with-royal-navy.aspx . 2 June 2011.
4. Web site: Defence Minister goes to war off Plymouth . Royal Navy.
5. News: Iraq Crisis: Thursday War in the Channel is dress rehearsal for real thing in the Gulf . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/iraq-crisis-thursday-war-in-the-channel-is-dress-rehearsal-for-real-thing-in-the-gulf-1141540.html . 7 May 2022 . subscription . live . Ian . Burrell . 29 January 1998 . The Independent. London, UK . 0951-9467 . 185201487 . 25 October 2013.