HMS SEX AND COCAINE
NINE sailors kicked off nuclear sub for drugs and FOUR officers for ‘affairs’
NINE British servicemen have been thrown off a nuclear submarine at the centre of a sex probe, after testing positive for cocaine while on duty.
In one of the worst scandals to hit the Navy, the crew from HMS Vigilant – which carries the Trident nuclear deterrent – were sent home and kicked out of the service after the class A drug was found in their blood.
They are alleged to have had drug-fuelled parties while the submarine was docked in the US to pick up nuclear warheads. One man is said to have had sex with a prostitute in a swimming pool.
It can also be revealed that the submarine’s second- in- command, Lieutenant Commander Michael Seal, 36, has been removed amid claims
of an extra-marital affair with a female engineering officer – Lieutenant Hannah Litchfield, 27. She too has been taken off the vessel.
The submarine was already embroiled in controversy over an alleged affair between its captain, Commander Stuart Armstrong, 41, and Sub-Lieutenant Rebecca Edwards, 25. Again, both have been removed from duty on board.
The submarine’s captain and his second-incommand are the only officers on board with access to a grey safe which contains a ‘letter of last resort’ from the Prime Minister. It details guidance and orders to be followed should the UK be attacked with nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, another serviceman on the vessel faces court martial after going AWOL – absent without leave – and boarding a flight to the UK to see his girlfriend. Two more submariners have quit the boat in the wake of the scandals.
It means that around 10 per cent of HMS Vigilant’s 168-strong crew have either been kicked out, quit, are under investigation or have been removed in what is believed to be one of the biggest sex and drugs scandals to hit the Navy. The matter is so serious that the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, has been quizzed about the scandal by the Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, who is said to be ‘furious’.
It is understood Sir Philip has been ordered to force mandatory drug tests across the entire submarine fleet to ‘reassure the Defence Secretary that this was an isolated incident’. A major investigation is also under way in the Ministry of Defence. HMS Vigilant is one of Britain’s four Vanguard- class submarines which carry up to eight Trident missiles armed with nuclear warheads. Britain has had a continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent since 1969. At least one of the four submarines is always supposed to be on patrol at any given time. The fact that such a serious scandal could unfold on board one of these vessels is likely to cause considerable alarm. It will also raise questions over whether men and women should be allowed to serve together under water for such long periods. Women have served on Navy surface ships since 1990 but a ban on them serving on submarines was not overturned until 2011. The first female submariners started work three years ago. Last night, a Navy source said: ‘These guys had been under the sea for 91 days – what do you think is going to happen? It was a monthlong party and it should not have been happening. HMS Vigilant has become known as the party boat.’ Rear Admiral Chris Parry, former commander of a Type 42 destroyer, said: ‘This is not just a submarine, it is one of our deterrence subma- rines. It is absolutely disgraceful. People in the Navy should remember playing for our country on an international level is a great privilege. It is a question of putting service before self.
‘Duty is everything. As Lord Nelson said, “Duty is the great business of a sea officer, all private considerations must give way to it”.’
Within the chain of command, relationships are banned. Where relationships exist in a crew outside the command chain a strict ‘no touching’ policy is in place while on deployment.
The scandal erupted when the submarine sailed to Kings Bay, Georgia, in the US in September. Senior naval chiefs were dispatched to the nuclear submarine after a whistleblower at the vessel’s Faslane base reported concerns about two affairs.
Once it docked, officers were put up in a £100-a-night hotel in Florida and junior and senior submariners were put up in a cheaper hotel. They were in-between the hotels and the submarine for a month while work was carried out on the boat.
Junior sailors first knew something was wrong when they were ordered by senior officers to delete all of their social media accounts.
They were then told to get back on the submarine for a meeting, where they were told the captain had been removed.
A few days later Lieutenant Commander Seal was taken off, with Lieutenant Edwards and Lieutenant Litchfield, for questioning.
While the investigation into the alleged affairs was ongoing, junior and senior rates had drug-fuelled parties in their hotel and one man cavorted with prostitutes in the swimming pool, it is claimed. Senior officers got wind of the parties
and ordered a drugs test before the crew were let back on board.
Nine of the junior rates failed the test. Four of them were flown home immediately before being kicked out of the Navy in recent weeks.
A further five were also sent home during an investigation and were kicked out yesterday.
Days before HMS Vigilant left the US, one of the submariners decided he had had enough and flew back home to see his girlfriend. He was arrested several hours after arriving in the UK and now faces court marital for going AWOL.
Two sailors also quit after details of the affairs emerged and after they were told some of their leave would be cancelled next year.
Five officers threatened to quit over the scandal, although it is understood no officers actually handed in their notice. The crew on the boat was around 168- strong, including seven women.
Last night, a Navy spokesman said: ‘We do not tolerate the misuse of drugs by service personnel. Those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service.’
The spokesman confirmed an investigation was underway.