Seven sailors caught taking cocaine are booted off nuclear sub
SEVEN sailors have been kicked off a Royal Navy ‘hunter killer’ nuclear submarine after being caught taking cocaine, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In one of the worst scandals to hit the Navy, the crew members from HMS Talent – which is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles – were ordered off the submarine after testing positive while on duty.
The sailors attended a drugfuelled party after the 5,300-ton boat docked at Devonport Naval Base. They failed a compulsory drugs test when they returned to the sub the next day to prepare for a sensitive mission to track Russian submarine movements in the North Sea and the Arctic Circle.
When Royal Navy doctors confirmed the results last week, senior officers ordered that they be handed over to military police.
Defence sources said HMS Talent had been due to sail from Devonport on Friday, but the 280ft-long boat was last night still at the Plymouth base.
The reason for the delay is unclear, but subs require a full complement of crew before going to sea. Typically HMS Talent sails with a crew of 120 to 130 personnel, including 20 officers. The Royal Navy declined to provide the ranks of those who failed the drug tests.
A Navy source said last night: ‘This is a major embarrassment for top brass. It takes years to train submariners to perform highly skilled and highly sensitive roles at sea and the Navy has just lost seven guys due to one night of stupidity.’
HMS Talent launched in 1988 and is designed to attack surface ships, other submarines and landbased enemy installations. The submarine also performs a surveillance role using cameras and thermal imaging periscopes.
Its Tomahawk missiles allow submarines from the Astute and Trafalgar class to accurately strike targets on land from a range of about 1,000 miles. The Mail on Sunday revealed in 2013 how the ageing Trafalgar submarines had been issued with ‘Code Red’ safety warnings after inspectors found radioactive leaks. HMS Talent hit the headlines four years ago when she required £500,000 of repairs after striking an iceberg while tracking Russian submarines.
The Trafalgars are powered by nuclear reactors and can stay at sea for up to three months. They feature sonar equipment that can hear enemy vessels sailing more than 50 miles away.
In 2017, nine sailors were removed from another sub, HMS Vigilant, for taking drugs and senior officers faced claims of having affairs with female crew.
Asked about the latest scandal, a Royal Navy spokesman said last night: ‘The Ministry of Defence has a zero-tolerance drugs policy and will not tolerate misuse of drugs by service personnel in any form or at any time. Any personnel caught taking drugs will be discharged.’