Submarine service ‘ has not fixed sex abuse issues’
A WHISTLEBLOWER who raised the alarm of alleged sex abuse in the royal Navy’s Submarine Service claims it is still a hotbed for offences – as another officer faces accusations.
Former lieutenant Sophie brook said new victims are still coming forward with at least five women contacting her with serious claims including rape.
It comes as the Mail learnt that a senior officer, who works on nuclear submarines, is being investigated for an alleged sex offence.
The First Sea Lord Sir ben Key launched an inquiry 18 months ago after the Mail exposed harrowing allegations made by Ms brook and others about the secretive service.
The women made claims of rape, sexual assault and casual misog yny including a ‘crush death rape list’ – which listed female staff in the order they would be raped in the event of a catastrophic event.
Ms brook, the UK’s first female warfare officer on a nuclear submarine, said she was sexually assaulted and abused by senior officers after joining the fleet in 2014.
She welcomed the Navy’s probe when it was launched in october 2022, but says she is ‘so disappointed and angry’ that there is still no conclusion.
‘The longer that it goes on the more I think it is just going to be a whitewash and there will be no justice,’ Ms brook told the Mail.
She said that more victims were being abused as the inquiry dragged on, with at least five women reaching out to her in the past year, including one who claimed she had been raped and another who was allegedly assaulted.
Ms brook, who was on course to become the first female captain of a submarine before she left the Navy, gave evidence to the inquiry. but she says she has been left in limbo by investigators, who have failed to provide any meaningful updates since last summer or a timeline for the probe’s conclusion.
The Mail revealed last year that the inquiry had been stalled after the Navy was forced to refer several matters – including at least three rapes – to the police for criminal investigation. As a result the probe was expected to remain on pause until the conclusion of the police investigations and any court proceedings – a process which could take years.
A Navy spokesman said: ‘ Work around an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the Submarine Service is ongoing and given the complex nature of the allegations, it is important to take time to do this thoroughly.’
They did not say whether the officer involved in the latest incident had been suspended.
‘More assaults as probe goes on’