Shocking footage, released on Facebook by armed forces group Fill Your Boots UK, has shown the scale of destruction caused by the sailors at Gosport’s HMS Sultan. In the brief 46-second video, three men can be seen asleep in the room which has been ransacked. Empty bottles of booze can be seen strewn all over the floor alongside rubbish, clothes and debris. One bed has been up-ended, with a mattress, table, chair and - what appears to be - a small fridge, having been hurled from the first-floor window. A second video, apparently recorded later in the day, shows a team of astounded senior rates inspecting the damage, with one shocked sailor saying: ‘What is that? Jesus.’ Since being released on Friday, the pair of clips have wracked up almost 100,000 views, leaving top brass at Sultan furious. In a statement, a spokesman for the naval base said: ‘We are aware of a post on social media and an investigation is underway. While the investigation continues it would be inappropriate to comment further. We can confirm that the unit is HMS Sultan.’ Mike Critchley, a retired Lieutenant Commander now living in Gosport, was disappointed by the news but claimed ‘crazy things happened when booze was involved’. ‘I am sure there are people sitting at Sultan today with sore heads wishing they hadn’t had that last beer,’ he said. ‘Young sailors of a certain age are no different to young men in Gosport high street once they have taken too much alcohol. ‘You do have to wonder what their mentality is though. It’s all a big laugh at the time but it looks very differently the next day. It really is no laughing matter.’ Mr Critchley added leaders of Sultan would take a dim view of the sailors’ actions. ‘The situation will be viewed pretty seriously by command at Sultan and appropriately punished,’ he insisted. ‘It’s not something that I would expect to see in a magistrates’ court, however. This isn’t serious enough to bang people up for. ‘I would expect the sailors involved to be docked their pay and leave.’ HMS Sultan is one of the navy’s main training hubs, and home to both the Defence School of Marine Engineering and the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School. The base’s primary function is to supply the fleet with engineering officers and ratings.
