Royal Navy nuclear submarine officer arrived 'drunk' for duty
- Published
HMS Vigilant is one of Britain's four Vanguard-class submarines
A Royal Navy officer has been sent home from the US after reporting to take charge of a submarine's Trident nuclear missiles while unfit for duty.
Lt Cdr Len Louw is under investigation at Faslane naval base in Scotland amid reports he had been drinking.
Colleagues raised concerns when the weapons engineering officer arrived for work on HMS Vigilant last month.
The Scottish Sun reported claims the submariner was "staggering drunk", external when he came on board the £3bn vessel.
HMS Vigilant - one of Britain's four Vanguard-class submarines which carry up to eight Trident missiles armed with nuclear warheads - was docked at a US naval base at the time.
The BBC understands the officer had been drinking the night before and was carrying a bag of leftover chicken from a barbecue for his lunch.
HMS Vigilant is normally based at Faslane in Scotland but was in the US for maintenance
HMS Vigilant is normally based at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde at Faslane in Argyll and Bute, but at the time of the incident in September, it was undergoing maintenance at the Kings Bay facility in Camden County, Georgia.
The weapons engineering officer is responsible for all weapons and sensors on board.
It is not yet clear if drink was the reason why Lt Cdr Louw was judged unfit to carry out his duties, but due to the responsibilities of his job, he was sent back to the UK pending an investigation.
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A Royal Navy spokesman said: "An investigation is under way therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further.
"However, where an individual's conduct falls short of the high standards we expect, we won't hesitate to take the appropriate action.
"While we don't comment on the detail, there are numerous safety checks and processes to protect the safety and use of weapons aboard all submarines."
It is not the first time HMS Vigilant's crew has made the headlines.
In October 2017, a captain was relieved of his command after an alleged "inappropriate relationship" with a female member of his crew.
Later that same month, nine sailors posted on the submarine were dismissed from the Royal Navy after failing drugs tests.
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