A young female officer said to have had an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with the captain on board a nuclear submarine dressed in his uniform during ‘boozy horseplay’ in the vessel’s officers’ mess.
Sub-Lieutenant Rebecca Edwards, 25, who is believed to have had a fling with Commander Stuart Armstrong, 41, wore his gold epaulettes and barked out joke orders to other officers aboard HMS Vigilant – a Royal Navy submarine which carries Trident missiles.
Their alleged affair led to five officers threatening to resign in protest at what they considered a blatant breach of the Royal Navy’s ‘no touching’ rules.
Sub-Lieutenant Rebecca Edwards, Assistant Weapons Engineering Officer on HMS Vigilant, has been accused of having a sexual relationship with one of her comrades on board a submarine
Sub-Lieutenant Edwards taking part in memorial and Remembrance service at HMNB Clyde
Sub-Lieutenant Rebecca Edwards, pictured centre, leads a Remembrance Day ceremony last year
Sub-Lieut Edwards, who qualified as a submariner last year, faces being fined or demoted pending an official inquiry.
Cmdr Armstrong has been relieved of his duties while an investigation is carried out.
Last night, the family of Sub-Lieut Edwards, who joined the Royal Navy in 2014 after achieving a First-Class Physics degree at Bristol University, condemned Cmdr Armstrong for allegedly preying on a junior crew member.
Her grandfather, Thomas Walker, 75, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Surely the opportunities to play about are in abundance in a job like that without doing it at sea and at work.
Stuart Armstrong (pictured) has been suspended from his post after an alleged affair with a female junior officer. She allegedly wore his uniform during their illicit fling
‘So it is a bit poor really [for him to get involved with her]. He should have shown more responsibility towards a young girl like that.’
Sub-Lieut Edwards and Cmdr Armstrong were ordered off HMS Vigilant when it docked in the United States last month.
They were flown back to Britain as Navy top brass began interviewing crew members.
The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that the submarine’s second-in-command Lieutenant Commander Michael Seal, 36, was also flown home over claims of an illicit relationship with another female crew member.
The married father-of-two, from Kirkcaldy, Scotland, is also facing disciplinary action. Last night, his wife Jennifer Seal, 36, told The Mail on Sunday he was not at the family home and that she did not know when he was coming back.
This newspaper has learned that the antics took place in HMS Vigilant’s wardroom – an onboard officers’ mess where senior crew members gather to let off steam.
Five crew members on board HMS Vigilant have threatened to resign following allegations of sexual relations between two leading male officers
When on operations Royal Navy submarines are dry but the vessel was not involved in missions against any enemy forces at the time.
Women have served on Royal Navy surface ships since 1990 but were not permitted to submarine crews until 2014. A ban on intimate relationships is imposed aboard all Royal Navy vessels.
Given his seniority, Cmdr Armstrong is expected to face much stiffer punishment than Sub-Lieut Edwards should he be found to have breached social conduct regulations.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘We can confirm an investigation is under way, but it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.’
The Navy’s first female warship captain, Sarah West, was released from her command of frigate HMS Portland over an alleged affair with a married officer in 2014.