The sailors have to served on the full range of classes of submarines including decommissioned classes to those currently in service and include HMS Otter, Onyx, Dreadnought, Valiant and Upholder and all the Swiftsure and Trafalgar Class submarines.

Following their regular careers some transferred directly to reserve service or spent varying time in civilian street prior to re-joining to fill vital roles.

Captain Bower said: “Averaging 12 years in their current full time reserve jobs, I am truly appreciative of their hard work, dedication and maturity they bring. They set high standards, lead by example and have brought significant depth of experience both to submarines in disposal and the submarine service as a whole.

"I can truly say that the last 10 years of service as FTRS has been blemish free for them all and hence they are each highly deserving of this award.’’

Petty Officer Dawson Kenny has been in the Navy for 36 years. He lives in Plymouth with his wife Donna and their two daughters and said: “I feel proud to have been able to serve extra years as FTRS in Devonport relieving the work load on regular submariners.

"The most memorable trip for me was a global tour on HMS Swiftsure in 1986 which covered places you can only dream about. The 30 year anniversary of which is being celebrated this September by many of the crew.’’