Angus Hordern interviews submarine captain and Cold War veteran, Ian Roberts.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Ian Roberts served in the Royal Australian Navy for 25 years. He earned the coveted Dolphins badge, marking him as a submariner. He went on to become one of the first Australian-born officers to command a Royal Australian Navy submarine. This is his conversation with Angus Hordern about life under the waves.

CORRECTION: When we first published this podcast, we said that Ian was the first Australian-born man to command a submarine. We’d read a couple of contemporary articles to that effect, but were misinformed. That honour goes to Captain Frank Getting, born in Sydney in 1899, and commanded the very first submarine to bear the name HMAS Oxley in 1928, the vessel that preceded Ian’s sub of the same name. Ian may have indeed been the second Australian to command an Aussie submarine - he’s definitely one o the first, and it was a great honour to record his story regardless.

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