"The MoD is also held to wider account by Parliament. Able Seaman McNeilly published his comments following his first submarine deployment. He was under training, and his access and exposure to activities and material on board were appropriate to his security clearance.
"We have found no evidence that he raised any concerns with colleagues on board or with the chain of command: had he done so, the more senior and experienced submariners would have been able to explain how the boat operated and why McNeilly’s concerns were unfounded. A number of the issues he raised did not occur during his patrol.
"Most of McNeilly’s concerns proved to be either factually incorrect or the result of mis or partial understanding; some drew on historic, previously known, events none of which had compromised our deterrent capability and, where appropriate, from which lessons had been learned to develop our procedures as part of a continuous improvement programme.
"Only one of the allegations remains to be fully examined – the allegation that e-cigarettes were being used within the submarine. No independent corroboration of this has been found but even if it were true, there is clear evidence that their use did not put the safety of the boat at risk."
This confirms what a lot of us have said. There are allegations and there is parroting of third-hand 'tall stories'; I sure there is the equivalent on a boat of pull up a sand bag. Perhaps along the lines of:
'Pull up a bollard, you land-lubber and hear-ye stories that will quiver the tar from your pig-tail. I swears it was true the day the Chief threw himself over the missile hatch to stop a Trident heading for Holyrood. I tell ye! You want to know why? One of them e-cigarettes did it. Bring back baccy and Rum I says, you young, naive and rather attractive able-seaman.'