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Video: How Royal Marines Board a Submarine

Royal Marines
Courtesy Royal Marines

Published Oct 6, 2026 4:58 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Royal Marines have released video footage of an unusual boarding method their units can use to embark a submarine at the completion of a covert mission: driving over the propeller and up the slope of the stern, at speed. 

The demonstration was part of a large scale NATO-member exercise across Scotland with 2,000 personnel. The commando mission in question was an insertion of forward observers to direct naval artillery at inland targets. Members of 148 Battery - a joint Navy/Army unit - deployed aboard a German attack submarine and used inflatable rubber raiding boats to reach the beach at Cape Wrath. From there, they infiltrated up into the cliffs and provided forward observation for the 76-mm deck gun of a Portuguese frigate, NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida. 

"This level of complexity and coordination of live assets has not been achieved by 148 Battery for nearly 30 years," commented the unit's unnamed operations officer.

The drill included dramatic float-on/float-off evolutions with rubber raiding boats in rough surface conditions. With the submarine pitching in heavy swells, the Royal Marine boat teams drove over the submerged propeller and between the Type-212A submarine's upper two X-rudders in order to hit the sloping aft deck of the submarine, driving up and out of the water to land on top. A team of crewmates - tethered to the deck for safety - were on hand to grab the boat and pull it aboard. 

Earlier in the exercise series, 148 Battery provided naval gunfire control for  Dutch frigate HNLMS Van Amstel and Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS St. John’s for additional live-fire drills. A separate Royal Marines unit also deployed to the Faroe Islands to demonstrate presence. 

The use of a German sub for the insertion highlights the limited availability of the Royal Navy's own attack subs. An operationally-ready Astute-class attack submarine was last at sea in late May, and the entire class has been in various stages of maintenance or preparation for more than four months, per Navy Lookout. The sixth and newest Astute-class, HMS Agamemnon, finally delivered to Naval Base Clyde on October 2 after 13 years in construction. It is due to enter sea trials and begin workup soon but is not yet operationally ready.