Three Royal Navy sailors caught taking cocaine on board submarine carrying 16 NUKES
THREE sailors serving on a submarine which carries 16 nuclear missiles have been caught taking cocaine, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
The submariners from HMS Vengeance failed a Compulsory Drugs Test shortly after the vessel visited a US naval facility in Florida.
The vessel – which carries the UK’s nuclear deterrent - then continued with its mission and the sailors were then removed when it arrived back at the UK.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said “we confirm that three members of a submarine based in HM Naval Base Clyde are involved”.
“Internal action against the individuals concerned is now underway - it would be inappropriate to comment further,” added the spokesman.
The base at Faslane is home to the UK’s submarine fleet in Scotland.
The three sailors were part of a larger group of HMS Vengeance crew members who took cocaine, .
The others involved are said to have successfully flushed the drug out of their bodies by drinking large amounts of water.
The MoD spokesman said it “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”.
'ZERO TOLERANCE'
HMS Vengeance, which weighs 15,900-tons and is nearly 500ft long, carries Trident nuclear missiles, which have a range of 7,500 miles.
Each of the missiles has a destructive power eight times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
The vessel is the youngest of the Royal Navy’s Vanguard class submarines and entered service in 2001.
It also carries the sealed letters of instruction from the Prime Minister to be followed in the aftermath of a national catastrophe or a nuclear strike on the UK.
The scandal comes just two months after seven sailors were been booted off another submarine over a drugs scandal.
The crew members from HMS Talent—a ‘hunter killer’ sub armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles— were caught taking cocaine after a wild party while docked at the Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth.
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Five sailors from the survey ship HMS Scott tested positive for cocaine after they went on a payday bender in 2018.
Sources said they went out in Plymouth where the ship docked for maintenance.
Random testing showed the five positive results, all from able seamen, and navy chiefs ordered drug tests for an entire ship’s crew.
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