By Charlie Loran • Published: 19 Oct 2020 • 6:23
LIEUTENANT Commander Len Louw shocked his crew members when he arrived at the HMS Vigilant to take charge of 16 nuclear missiles, drunk, carrying BBQ chicken.
The Lieutenant was removed from the submarine, which was docked in US Navy’s Kings Bay base in Camden County, Georgia, and brought home to its usual base in Faslane, Scotland.
Lt Louw’s role was to look after the missiles, which contain three nuclear warheads each.
They are roughly as powerful as 30 of the bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima.
A source told The Sun, “He was not in a fit state to be in charge of nuclear weapons.
“The person he was taking over from realised something was seriously wrong. They had no choice but to alert the higher-ups.”
When Lt Louw, arrived at the £3billion sub his crewmates were about to offload the missile, which he was charged with maintaining.
An investigation into his actions has since been launched.
The incident is the latest scandal to befall the Vanguard-class sub.
Previously, nine crew members were sacked for taking Class A drugs, and a former captain and first mate were removed from the vessel for sleeping with female junior officers
A Royal Navy spokesman said, “Where an individual’s conduct falls short of the high standards we expect, we won’t hesitate to take the appropriate action.”
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Manchester born mummy with a two year old diva (2020), living on the Costa del Sol for just short of a decade. Former chef and restaurateur, holistic health fanatic and lover of long words.
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