Drunk matelots arrested

[Sun Who]

RN traditions alive and well: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45463703
Given the context of QEII/F35/US/UK relations etc, I suspect the guilty parties will feel the full force of the lash.

Sun

[ditchvisitor]

I think they’ve already felt the full force of the lash.... that’s what got them into trouble in the first place!!!!

[langleybaston]

Was this after the rum and sodomy ? [W S Chuchill]

[Fitter2]

I was disappointed to hear reports that it was only half a dozen disorderly matelots. Has the RN lost Nelson's fighting spirit?

[glad rag]

How long had they been on cruise? 7 days????

[camelspyyder]

2 weeks.

To be fair I was rat-arsed last time I went to Jax too.

"Navy get drunk on run ashore" probably wasn't news in Ancient Greece and it still isn't.

[Bill Macgillivray]

camellspyyder,

How right you are!
I am ex-light blue but did an RN exchange tour late 50's and taught RN pilots in late 60's. This is not news, I am only suprised at the low numbers!!
PC news??

Bill

[Pure Pursuit]

I think the main question is more about where on earth their mates were to stop them getting arrested?!

1st tour of the QE.... I can't see this going very well for the lads involved... book...thrown...etc.

[Fonsini]

Getting drunk and a bit rowdy is one thing, fighting with police officers and requiring the application of less-lethal measures is entirely another. This won’t end well for them, and it shouldn’t.

[ORAC]

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/police-six-british-sailors-taken-into-custody-on-various-charges/829756365

To put it it in perspective....

”Following the arrival of the United Kingdom's newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth on Wednesday at Naval Station Mayport, six British sailors were taken into custody, the Jacksonville Beach Police Department said.

According to police, most of the sailors were taken in on drunk and disorderly charges, but three were charged with resisting arrest.

One of the three pushed and pulled an officer; the second refused to put his hands behind his back and was stunned by a Taser; and the third was actively fighting and refused to stop, officers said........

Officials said there have been no further issues since speaking with the ship's leaders.

A sergeant with the police department said the sailors were getting into drunken fights mostly with one another.”.......

[Navaleye]

They will be looking at Captains report and possible dismissal. They will be harshly treated and rightly so. I would not want to be one of them.

[pr00ne]

Compared to how similar offences were dealt with in front of TV cameras on Sailor. They were either reprimanded or stopped leave.

[KenV]

Drunken British sailors are invading Florida and beating each other up, because why not?

The redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming — to fight at a bar near you.Watering holes everywhere in the vicinity of Naval Station Mayport experienced a major boon in business this week after British sailors from the Royal Navy’s prized new carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived in the northeast Florida port of Jacksonville Beach.Hundreds of sailors rambled off the ship Wednesday following a weeks-long journey that marked the 65,000-ton vessel’s first transatlantic voyage. And as is tradition with navies around the world, a pressing matter had to be attended to immediately upon exiting the hulking ship — the ancient mariner rite of drinking to the point of annihilation.
With only a few days on land before heading back to sea, the Queen Elizabeth’s occupants stormed the beaches of Jacksonville ready to declare war and conquer any and all alcoholic beverages that stood in their way.“I think we need a modern day Paul Revere to let us know that the British are coming,” Keith Doherty, a general manager at Lynch’s Irish Pub in Jacksonville Beach, told the Florida Times-Union (http://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180907/beach-bars-restaurants-in-northeast-florida-scramble-to-handle-british-sailors). “I know a lot of places were understaffed and that caused a lot of issues.”The plight of understaffed service, however, wound up being on the lighter side of the evening’s tribulations, as the number of alcohol-induced escapades inevitably soared Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.
As any who have deployed or spent time on ship can attest, the accumulation of aggression while confined to tight quarters in the middle of an ocean can have a profound impact on the human psyche.This often manifests through booze-fueled skirmishes or other shenanigans when personnel find themselves liberated from the bowels of a floating prison and once more on the familiar environs of dry land. It’s practically tradition, and the Brits dared not break from it.Doherty told the Times-Union he heard the number of such skirmishes were in the hundreds.All the angry people, where do they all come from? These tall tales were refuted by Sgt. Larry Smith of the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, who told the Times-Union that six Queen Elizabeth sailors had been taken into custody for drunken and disorderly conduct, which included public urination and fighting. Three sailors were charged with resisting arrest, and at least one necessitated a tasing. What would a Florida-based story be, after all, without at least one person needing a tasing?Fights with the host Floridians, meanwhile, were reportedly nonexistent, as the blokes from across the pond evidently managed to keep the raucous behavior to themselves. “These guys come in town periodically,” Smith said. “They beat the mess out of each other and fight each other more than anything, but once they pick up their teeth off the ground they are best friends.”One complaint from bar and restaurant owners about the visiting seamen was nearly universal: tipping. “They tipped a little under 10 percent," Haleigh Snow, manager at Poe’s Tavern in Atlantic Beach, told the Times-Union. “I don’t think they knew they were doing anything wrong.”International tipping customs aside, Smith said local police have had no additional issues since the incidents were first reported to the ship’s top brass.While these mishaps certainly don’t make the best first impressions on locals, the concept of going a little overboard during a port visit is one familiar to many Americans.Just this year, at least six junior enlisted Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/08/29/the-26-meu-party-float-drunk-and-disorderly-conduct-and-vandalism-in-italy/) were busted down in rank for vandalism and drunk and disorderly conduct during a port visit to Gaeta, Italy, with the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship New York.The mariner tradition must go on.The carrier Queen Elizabeth, which left its home of Portsmouth, England, on Aug. 18, is next destined for Maryland, where two embarked U.S. F-35B Lightning II (https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/03/05/f-35b-lands-aboard-amphib-for-first-indo-pacific-deployment-on-navy-ship/) aircraft from Naval Air Station Patuxent River will make their first landings and takeoffs from the ship’s 280-meter deck.Here’s to hoping bars in the land of pleasant living adequately prepare for the arrival of her majesty’s namesake.LINK (https://www.navytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2018/09/09/drunken-british-sailors-are-invading-florida-and-beating-each-other-up-because-why-not/?utm_source=clavis)

[friartuck]

funny about the tipping - I was once told by a waitress in Las Vegas "tipping here is 20% not 15% like you guys tip in Canada," When I pointed out we were Brits "Jeez!!
even worse - lousy 10% tippers".......

[Wensleydale]

funny about the tipping

My understanding is that the IRS assume that the tip will be 15% of the total bill and tax the server accordingly! (The receipt will have the server number automatically appended and the IRS know who served what). No wonder that they get shirty with poor tipping by Brits.

[Out Of Trim]

Well, 10% would be fine if the business paid the waitresses an adequate wage in the first place like they do in Europe!

[WingNut60]

Well, 10% would be fine if the business paid the waitresses an adequate wage in the first place like they do in Europe!

Or, 10% 0% would be fine if the business paid the waitresses an adequate wage in the first place like they do in Europe! Australia and Japan!

[Out Of Trim]

Agreed! It's all relative..

[alfred_the_great]

They will be looking at Captains report and possible dismissal. They will be harshly treated and rightly so. I would not want to be one of them.

No they won't.

[WilliumMate]

This is only news because of what ship it is. The worst offender may receive a warrant punishment, the others disrating (if they have any to lose), fines and stoppage of leave. If they face any civil punishment then they will have to request to be awarded consequential naval penalties.

Beating the crap out of each other doesn't really suggest it is a happy ship.

[alwayslookingup]

When I heard this I thought "slowest of slow news days".

[Mogwi]

camellspyyder,

How right you are!
I am ex-light blue but did an RN exchange tour late 50's and taught RN pilots in late 60's. This is not news, I am only suprised at the low numbers!!
PC news??

Bill

Just realised you did my IFT in the Chipmunk on 10th Oct 67. Don't know how I passed; I was - and still am - hopeless under the hood!!

Greetings!

mog

[Linedog]

How did they manage to get drunk on american beer? :yuk:

[KenV]

How did they manage to get drunk on american beer? :yuk:Who said it was American beer and for that matter that it was beer at all? ;)

[alfred_the_great]

This is only news because of what ship it is. The worst offender may receive a warrant punishment, the others disrating (if they have any to lose), fines and stoppage of leave. If they face any civil punishment then they will have to request to be awarded consequential naval penalties.


The bit in bold? No they won’t.

At a guess, fines and leave, in a ratio that punishes appropriately - most likely leave for the most junior, fines for the more senior (as fines are related to daily rate of pay).


Beating the crap out of each other doesn't really suggest it is a happy ship.

Not really, at a guess, it’s either they didn’t know one another (pretty easy in a ship with 100s of JRs in mulitple messes), or more likely, young men full of beer acting like young men full of beer.

I’d be far more worried if they were beating each other up when sober.

[SASless]

My.....how the "offended crowd" react to a bit of frolic during a good run ashore by some sailors.

Folks....no one got killed or maimed.....and we all know that Sailors and Demon Rum can be a very volatile mixture.

Stand the Miscreants up before the Captain....tell of their Sins...and let him get a Pound of Flesh from them each.....then tell them to go forth and Sin no more.

After all....do we want Sailors and Marines that will not scrap?

[57mm]

Quite right Sasless, can't for the life of me understand why this is news.

[Onceapilot]

How did they manage to get drunk on american beer? :yuk:

Maybe that was the mistake-a they made!
USA has some pretty fine drinks these days. Great micro-breweries, in-house brews and speciality beers!....hic!

OAP

[Tengah Type]

#13 Posted by KenV puts this into perspective - not the usual hype from the Press.
One was Tasered for refusing to put his hands behind his back - perhaps a less confrontational approach by law enforcement would have defused the situation. Main complaint is about the measly tipping. 6 arrests - sounds like a quiet Friday night in most British towns these days( or Malaga or Benidorm). I have seen worse behaviour from a "Ladies" darts team!
Anybody remember Bugis Street or the Gut in Malta in the 60s and 70s?? I was in the Gut in the 70s when a US Carrier called. That was an experience of an entirely different magnitude.
The American Shore Patrol, armed with pickaxe handles, were not very sympathetic!!

[ian16th]

I remember being in Malta in 1959 when the US 6th Fleet came ashore.

Why is anyone surprised?

Edited to add.
TT I see our postings crossed.

[BEagle]

Whereas US naval vessels are 'dry' (I assume that's still the case?), the RN allows its sailors to have limited amounts of alcohol on board, so there is less 'urgency' at getting drunk as skunks when ashore,I would imagine.

As for punishing the offenders, no doubt an extra turn in the barrel after kissing the gunner's daughter will suffice? Not quite a keel-hauling offence though.

[KPax]

In the 70's when the American 'Boomer' crews changed over at Holy Loch you could see the outgoing crew waiting in Prestwick Airport waiting for the TWA flight to take them home. The USN Shore Patrol, all very large people with very large sticks were not to be messed with, 1 tap from the stick was usually enough, 2 taps you were on the verge of something painful 3 taps and they were usually observed being 'helped to the aircraft.

[SASless]

Odd....the Shore Patrol is drawn from the Crew(s) of the visiting ships at locations away from established bases.

It operates more as a Courtesy Patrol rather than as a purely Law Enforcement organization.

Two Years in WestPac based out of Subic Bay with visits to Hong Kong, Mombasa, Karachi, and other exotic places confirmed the US Sailor has an amazing ability to find trouble ashore.

[Airbubba]

A couple of nice articles on naval alcohol traditions.

Royal Navy:
https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/z4gqge/a-brief-history-of-drunken-british-sailors

U.S. Navy:
https://news.usni.org/2014/07/01/hundred-years-dry-u-s-navys-end-alcohol-sea -

[Pontius Navigator]

I was in the Gut in the 70s when a US Carrier called. That was an experience of an entirely different magnitude.
The American Shore Patrol, armed with pickaxe handles, were not very sympathetic!!

Ah yes, I remember seeing you there, long sleeved white shirt, tie etc. Blue light taxi at the bottom claiming the RAF Officers, "one of ours" as the SP clubbed all and sundry.😀

[FODPlod]

...Beating the crap out of each other doesn't really suggest it is a happy ship.
Does the short-term behaviour of 6 (i.e. 0.5%) of QNLZ's 1,200 embarked personnel during a lively run ashore really justify such a stinging judgement?

Try this testament from a female local taxi driver instead: A story about the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth in Florida you probably didn’t hear (https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/a-story-about-the-crew-of-hms-queen-elizabeth-in-florida-you-probably-didnt-hear/)

I am not anybody of great importance and I don’t have a high position of authority or anything of that nature, I just work in the transportation business as an Uber driver part time while I am finishing my college degree. Therefore, what I am going to inform you about concerning three sailors on your ship is pretty special since they had nothing to gain for what they did.
First, let me say that everyone that I have given a ride to who are sailors on the HMS Queen Elizabeth were exceptionally kind and very respectful to me, and I find it to be very sad that our media here in Jacksonville, Florida only reported on negative circumstances that happened with a small percentage of sailors on your ship.
That is why I want to make sure that you know about these three sailors that helped me out, while expecting nothing in return. At 8:42 pm on Monday, September 10th, I received a call from 301 Atlantic Blvd, Neptune Beach to pick up a man named David and two of his friends to take them back to Mayport Base. I was informed right before I picked them up that I had a headlight out and I was concerned because I needed to replace it or else quit working for the night until I got it fixed...

[Pontius Navigator]

A couple of nice articles on naval alcohol traditions.

Royal Navy:
https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/z4gqge/a-brief-history-of-drunken-british-sailors

-

Once experienced splice the main brace on the occasion of the PoW first marriage. We had escaped and spent the day in Cherbourgh but got our tot when we returned.

[Easy Street]

A propos of nothing, there does seem to be a bit of a puritanical streak in the upper echelons of all 3 services at the moment. In the RAF’s case I can think of particular individuals who set that tone, but more generally I wonder if it is a consequence of the huge and increasing emphasis placed on ‘defence engagement’. In idealistic minds around Whitehall, shiny new bits of kit (QE, Typhoon, etc) are fantastic tools for exercising British influence. But perhaps the idealists forget the hundreds of inherently flawed and slightly less shiny things (for that is what we humans are) that come with them, and get angry when they become the story. Even if military commanders are wise enough to foresee this and downplay it, they are still beholden to civil servants, politicians and possibly even the media for their final couple of jumps up the ladder, so they have to play disappointed too...

[Haraka]

I remember the infantile "open container violation" hold up, when innocently taking a beer back to my room from the bar to finish off at the end of an evening shift.

Give them time......They are young yet as a nation.

[FODPlod]

How long had they been on cruise? 7 days????
“On cruise”?

I’m sure there are people who believe warships stop everything at 1600 each weekday and all weekend while at sea so everyone can down tools and get their heads down (or go home for tea and stickies when alongside).

[gijoe]

My.....how the "offended crowd" react to a bit of frolic during a good run ashore by some sailors.

Folks....no one got killed or maimed.....and we all know that Sailors and Demon Rum can be a very volatile mixture.

Stand the Miscreants up before the Captain....tell of their Sins...and let him get a Pound of Flesh from them each.....then tell them to go forth and Sin no more.

After all....do we want Sailors and Marines that will not scrap?

No,no,no...don't for a second think that HM Forces are there to use violence to achieve political aims - they are there to ensure that every station, ship and base has a Rainbow flag flying out front and has achieved a quota.

[Private jet]

From any perspective, not Gentlemanly behaviour, but I guess the "fighting forces" have been getting away with it for years.

[SASless]

The US Navy may. have no alcohol....but by Gawd we has our Ice Cream!:{

[Glevum]

The US Navy has also been known to partake in a few sherbets during a run ashore.

[orca]

Whilst I can see the attraction of gentlemanly behaviour - how would that have anything to do with the RN?

[WilliumMate]

The bit in bold? No they won’t.

At a guess, fines and leave, in a ratio that punishes appropriately - most likely leave for the most junior, fines for the more senior (as fines are related to daily rate of pay).


I was only speaking from previous experience. A similar incident happened during a deployment to South America (albeit 40ish years ago) where some ODs were brawling among themselves and the local Plod. One award of 56 days DQs, one Killick back to AB and various 9s and fines. Wasn't me though Chief, I was duty watch that night.

:ouch: