Nuclear Submarine Personnel Dismissed After Drug-Fueled Parties

Nine British service members have been discharged from the Royal Navy for testing positive for cocaine while on duty, according to the Telegraph Friday.

The crew allegedly had several drug-fueled hotel parties while the submarine was docked in the Georgia last month to pick up warheads, according to the Washington Post. One of the crew allegedly had sex with a prostitute in a hotel pool.

“We do not tolerate drugs misuse by service personnel. Those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service,” a Royal Navy spokesman said in a statement Friday.

The service members were stationed on board the HMS Vigilant, one of four British submarines that carry Trident nuclear missiles. The latest controversy for the vessel comes on the heels of a sex scandal in which the sub’s top two commanders were removed from their posts pending an investigation.

The sub’s captain Cmdr. Stuart Armstrong and his second in command, Lt. Cmdr. Michael Seal, are both under investigation for alleged inappropriate relationships with female subordinates.

The British Navy keeps one of the four nuclear submarines at sea at all times. Inside each sub is a “letter of last resort” written by the prime minister. The letter gives instructions on what to do in the event that Britain is hit by nuclear missiles. Only the top two commanders of the submarine can access the letter.

“This is not just a submarine, it is one of our deterrence submarines. It is absolutely disgraceful. People in the Navy should remember playing for our country on an international level is a great privilege. It is a question of putting service before self,” said Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a former Royal Navy ship commander to the Daily Mail Friday.

The British scandal comes at a time of heightened tensions around the world due to the threat of nuclear war. President Donald Trump and North Korea have spent the year lobbing threats of destruction at each other. The barbs have also gotten personal, Trump has taken to calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man,” and Kim called Trump “a mentally deranged U.S. dotard.”

North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear weapon test this year, claiming it tested a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb. North Korea has also showcased its advancing missile program in several tests this year, including two long-range intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was in South Korea Saturday and warned of North Korea’s growing threat to the world.

“North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,” said Mattis to reporters.​