Evening Herald
One of the eleven sailors who walked off a Devonport nuclear submarine over safety fears, says he would rather face jail than go back. The Plymouth submariner, sonar operator James Metcalf, 25, said he owed it to his two-year-old daughter Ellie-Mae to disobey any order to return to HMS Trafalgar. He said he had lost all confidence in its safety
equipment and claimed many more sailors, including senior
ratings, were concerned about safety on board but did not
walk off because they feared disciplinary action. He
said: "I don't care about going to prison for this.
There is nothing more important to me than Ellie-Mae; I
do fear for her future but someone has got to stand up to
them." |
Nuclear sub's crew
in Colin Blackstock Sea trials of the repaired nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar were postponed after 11 crew members expressed their concerns over the safety of the ship, the navy said. The sailors raised their concerns with the captain of the ship - which had run aground off the Isle of Skye in November 2002 - just hours before it was due to leave Faslane on the Clyde to begin its "shake-down" last Friday. The crew members were then put ashore by their commanding officer after discussing their concerns with him, and were replaced with other sailors. Although there were reports that the men had refused to serve on the submarine, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said last night that was not the case. "They did not refuse orders. They expressed concerns and their commanding officer felt it prudent to land them," he said. The nuclear submarine began its shake-down on Saturday night, a process which tests the vessel and steps up pressure on the crew to prepare for operational deployment. The crew was involved in a minor incident in recent weeks where diesel fumes briefly entered the sub's ventilation system while at Devonport dockyard, which is thought to have led to the sailors' concerns. A court martial hearing last month reprimanded Commander Robert Fancy and Commander Ian McGhie, both 39, for their part in causing HMS Trafalgar to ground on the seabed while on a training mission, causing damage costing £5m. The two pleaded guilty to a charge of negligence causing the grounding of the sub on November 6 2002. During the court martial it emerged that Post-it notes, a gloomy command room and a distracted commanding officer were behind the accident. As part of a training exercise, the yellow notes were covering the display screens of the navigational systems the officer in charge of the vessel normally relies on, and charts were difficult to read because of the poor lighting. Greenpeace calls for
nuclear submarine recall PA Greenpeace called last night for nuclear submarines to be withdrawn for safety checks after complaints from 11 sailors who asked to leave HMS Trafalgar. The submarine was due to begin operational tests following repairs at the Faslane nuclear base in Scotland. The environmental group said that all of Britain's Trafalgar and Swiftsure class "hunter killer" submarines should be brought back to port and assessed. The group's nuclear spokeswoman, Jean McSorley, said: "This submarine poses a real threat to the Irish sea and the north-east Atlantic. "If an accident happened it would not only put the lives of the crew at risk, but if radioactive material escapes from the submarine it could threaten human health and contaminate whole swaths of marine life." HMS Trafalgar has been out of service since it ran aground off the Isle of Skye in November 2002, injuring three sailors and causing £5m damage. The Ministry of Defence said a number of defects had been identified but had been dealt with. It denied any suggestions of a "mutiny" and said no individual had refused to sail with the submarine. The 11 men had spoken of their safety fears to commanding officer Mark Williams, who had agreed to release them from duty. Four had already agreed to go back on board. |
NOT A MUTINY John Andrews The Navy hasn't had a mutiny since sailors struck over a pay cut in 1931 - and apparently it hasn't had one now. Capt. Simon Martin, Submarine
Squadron Captain: "This was not a mutiny. The word
mutiny is being misused here. The eleven individuals were
quite clearly unhappy about being back at sea because
they had been on board the submarine when it grounded in
November 2002.
A group of Royal Navy submariners have been given permission to leave HMS Trafalgar, after they expressed fears over their safety. The commanding officer agreed to the 11 sailors leaving the submarine before operational tests, following repairs. HMS Trafalgar has been out of service since it ran aground off the Isle of Skye in 2002 during a training mission. The Ministry of Defence has said there were some faults, but not enough to stop the vessel going to sea. And it has denied there was any radiation leak. The MoD also dismissed reports in the Daily Mirror that the refit at the Devonport yard in Plymouth had cost £60m.
They also stressed that there had been no mutiny, with no sailors refusing to sail, and that there would be no disciplinary action. BBC defence correspondent Paul Adams said the men could never have been accused of mutiny or disobeying a direct order, as the order to sail had yet to be given. The officer in charge of the Royal Navy's submarine flotilla based at Devonport, Plymouth, denied HMS Trafalgar was unsafe. Captain Simon Martin said: "The submarine has now dived, and I know for a fact that the commanding officer has had other members of the ship's company knocking on his door and saying they are 100% happy." Capt Martin said the 11 men might be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder following the 2002 collision and the diesel leak. He added: "They said they were worried about being at sea in a dived submarine. The last thing you want on board is someone who feels unstable." An MoD spokesman later said that five sailors had now returned to the submarine, three were still being medically assessed and two had been cleared fit but had not as yet returned and were to be interviewed again. One man had refused to return to vessel. Reactor problem Although some repairs were made after the original refit, at Faslane nuclear base on the Clyde, the majority of the crewmembers' concerns were unfounded, the MoD added. Some allegations, such as that the sub's anchor could not be lowered, or that a nose cone had been welded on wrongly, were simply not true, the MoD insisted. A problem with a single control rod in the ship's reactor was minor, it said. The November 2002 collisions injured three sailors and caused damage initially estimated at £5m. Last week three crew members were treated after diesel fumes entered the sub's ventilation system during a training exercise at Devonport. Breathing masks had to be worn when Freon, a refrigerant gas, escaped in another incident. All clear All the Trafalgar's crew had been asked if they had any concerns about the vessel's operating systems. Last Friday, commanding officer Mark Williams released the 11 from duty and temporary replacements joined the other 109 members, currently being trained in preparation for operational deployment. The submarine had been given the all clear before it left Devonport. "The Royal Navy would not send officers to sea if it was not totally confident about the safety of a boat," an MoD spokesman said. "There was no question of a mutiny or that any individual refused to carry out orders." Last month, a court martial hearing reprimanded Commander Robert Fancy and Commander Ian McGhie, both 39, for their part in causing the vessel to ground in 2002; both pleaded guilty to |
The Royal Navy would
not send officers to sea if it was not totally
confident about the safety of a boat 