Shooting on RN nuclear submarine

[MillCreek]

I read this on MSNBC, and the below is cut and pasted from the HMS Astute Wikipedia article.  The enlisted man shot an officer and another enlisted.   The enlisted man died and the officer is expected to survive.  Interesting that he was arrested by civilian police as opposed to military police.  

On 8 April 2011, one officer was injured and one rating killed in a shooting on board Astute whilst she was berthed at Southampton docks. An able seaman opened fire with an SA80 assault rifle during a changeover of armed guards in the submarine's control room, before being overpowered by other naval personnel and later arrested by Hampshire Constabulary officers. Southampton City Council's leader, chief executive, and mayor were on board at the time.[21][22][23]

[vaskidmark]

The Limies arm the guards in the control room with rifles? Another reason why they are (f)GB.

Southampton City Council's leader, chief executive, and mayor were on board at the time.

  And he shot an Officer and a Rating?  Poor target selection, unless there is something we have not yet been told.  But it does explain why he was arrested by civillian police.  I wonder, is HMRN willing to forgo military charges in exchange for letting the civillians deal with him?

stay safe.

[AZRedhawk44]

I read this yesterday, and I was at a loss as to why the freakin' Brits would allow mayors and city councilmen to board a nuclear submarine.

And I have to wonder if somehow a staff security dispute escalated to cause this, or some sort of cronyistic behavior of one officer giving a tour of the nuke boat to a bunch of civvies and showing them classified things on the boat...

Seems irresponsible, no matter what, to allow the civvie cops to investigate and resolve this.  The RN should be in charge of this.  It's their boat.  It's their crime scene.  It's their people that were shot and did the shooting.

[MillCreek]

I read this yesterday, and I was at a loss as to why the freakin' Brits would allow mayors and city councilmen to board a nuclear submarine.

And I have to wonder if somehow a staff security dispute escalated to cause this, or some sort of cronyistic behavior of one officer giving a tour of the nuke boat to a bunch of civvies and showing them classified things on the boat...

Seems irresponsible, no matter what, to allow the civvie cops to investigate and resolve this.  The RN should be in charge of this.  It's their boat.  It's their crime scene.  It's their people that were shot and did the shooting.

From the other articles I have read, during this port visit, the boat was open to tours by the local politicians, veterans groups and Scout troops at the invitation of the Royal Navy.

[RaspberrySurprise]

The Limies arm the guards in the control room with rifles? Another reason why they are (f)GB.
  And he shot an Officer and a Rating?  Poor target selection, unless there is something we have not yet been told.  But it does explain why he was arrested by civillian police.  I wonder, is HMRN willing to forgo military charges in exchange for letting the civillians deal with him?

stay safe.

Yeah armed guards in the the control room doesnt make sense, conning tower sure, but in the control room seems odd.

[birdman]

Yeah armed guards in the the control room doesnt make sense, conning tower sure, but in the control room seems odd.

Weird.  Though, an SA80 is pretty short, so not that unwieldy in a sub.

[Matthew Carberry]

Some things in here don't react well to bullets.

[erictank]

Some things in here don't react well to bullets.

"Right... like me.  *I* don't react well to bullets..."

[S. Williamson]

"I have to be careful about what I shoot at?!?" 

[grislyatoms]

"A god-damned cook!"

[vaskidmark]

More on the incident at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1374850/HMS-Astute-shooting-Ryan-Donovan-pictured-smiling-48-hours-incident.html .

Seems the RN was not responsible for subduing the guy, but rather

The gunman was overpowered by a visiting council leader, Royston Smith

.

It gets worse:

The man accused of firing the shots is believed to be able seaman Ryan Donovan, 22. He was under arrest last night and is said to have snapped after being refused shore leave....

Colleagues said the 5ft 6ins sailor had been pressed into carrying out his previous tour of duty, despite being due shore leave, The Sun reported.  He was believed to be dreading spending another month at sea on more exercises due to start on Monday.

and

Reports also claimed the rating snapped after he was told he could not use a toilet because visiting dignitaries should go first, The Times reported.
A Ministry of Defence source told the newspaper: 'With civic dignitaries on board, toilet arrangements were stretched to the absolute limit.
'I'm told the rating said he urgently needed to attend a call of nature only to be ordered to allow visitors first use of a toilet near the control room.'

Remind me to go before I board any RN vessles, OK?

stay safe.

[Hawkmoon]

I distinctly recall the deputy state building inspector commenting awhile back that exit capacity is critical but nobody ever died due to having to wait for a toilet.

Guess I'd better send him this article.

[Stetson]

I read this as "Shooting on Nurse nuclear submarine"....I need more sleep

[RoadKingLarry]

It wasn't uncommon or us to take "civilian VIPs" to sea with us for short trips.
We even took a TV news crew with us on a trip from Norfolk to Charleston in early '92. They were filming a documentary , A day in the life of a submarine or some such. They were pretty tightly monitored as for what they could film.
After the "grounding incident on the way into Charleston it was suggested that approval of the footage they had filmed might be contingent on them not airing a report on the grounding until it was announced through official channels.

As for the Brit, my opinion is that he was already nuts and eventually something was gonna trip his trigger and he was going to blow.

[KD5NRH]

Weird.  Though, an SA80 is pretty short, so not that unwieldy in a sub.

Still excessive in tight confines, and 5.56 is just about silly in a sub.  Something in a 9mm SMG with frangible bullets (something more like shotgun breaching rounds than Glasers; count on hammering the snot out of the target repeatedly rather than any single round doing much damage) would be my preference if I had to shoot in a cramped area while surrounded by delicate things that could kill me if punctured.

[birdman]

Did anyone else notice the use of the word "whilst" in the article?  While they may be much crazier about being allowed to pee, they certainly write ether than the monosyllabic caveman trash in our newspapers.

[vaskidmark]

Did anyone else notice the use of the word "whilst" in the article?  While they may be much crazier about being allowed to pee, they certainly write ether than the monosyllabic caveman trash in our newspapers.

* ether than 

stay safe.

[birdman]

* ether than 

stay safe.

*Better than, stupid iphone