Oz officers’ booze, drugs and sex sessions aboard HMAS Success revealed
By ANIThursday, March 25, 2010
MELBOURNE - The ongoing inquiry into the Navy supply ship HMAS Success has revealed that officers indulged in booze and drugs apart from having sex with junior female sailors during shore leave.
The inquiry was told that the officers would return to the ship so drunk they had to be “escorted” to their cabins to sleep it off.
The ship’s captain of 21 months, Commander Simon Brown, told the inquiry before retired judge Roger Gyles QC he was shocked when he received an equity and diversity report in May last year.
It included allegations of sexual predators, bullying, illicit drug and steroid abuse, inappropriate behaviour between officers and sailors and alcohol abuse.
The Commission of Inquiry, which is examining the navy’s internal procedures following an earlier inquiry into misconduct aboard the HMAS Success, was told Cdr Brown was acting on allegations based on rumour and hearsay.
It had been contained in a so-called “equity and diversity health report” when he had three senior sailors, Petty Officers Jake Thompson, Orlando Barrett and Chief Petty Officer Jason Thomas, marched off the vessel under escort in Singapore.
CPO Thomas had been given a commander’s commendation by Cdr Brown.
None of the sailors, known as the “untouchables”, named in the report and during interviews between Cdr Brown and investigators, were allowed to respond to any allegations.
“If the information was correct and I raised it (with them) then it might have exacerbated the problem,” News.com.au quoted Cdr Brown as saying.
He said he had heard rumours about bad behaviour aboard Success earlier in his career.
“This ship has a rotten core and it has to be removed,” Cdr Brown told his superiors at Fleet HQ in Sydney at the time.
“This ship is broken,” he added.
The inquiry had already heard Success crewmembers had sex in a Chinese bar and smashed another bar in Manila on last year’s goodwill tour of Asian ports.
Top brass authorised removing four sailors on misconduct allegations.
The inquiry in Sydney is still continuing. (ANI)
