Captain's tirade left submariner in tears

The Scotsman ^ | 1/9/6 | BEN MITCHELL

[SmithL]

A SUBMARINE captain berated his subordinates with such rage that his face became "gorged" with blood and his tirades made a lieutenant ill and reduced him to tears, a court martial heard yesterday.

The case, being heard at Portsmouth Naval Base, relates to Capt Robert Tarrant's period of command of the nuclear-powered Trafalgar-class submarine HMS Talent, based at Devonport.

Judge advocate Jack Bayliss ruled that a substantial part of the case is to be heard in secret because the evidence is likely to include information relevant to national security.

Commander Alison Towler, prosecuting, said Capt Tarrant's behaviour towards his subordinates could not be excused by the stress of being involved in top-secret missions.

Cmdr Towler said that Capt Tarrant would embark on a "ritual" of shouting and abuse, sometimes personal, which was disproportionate to the complaint and would often leave the crew member in tears and afraid of him.

She said: "The prosecution accepts a commanding officer has the right to admonish his subordinates and an operation may require forcible and immediate action which leaves no room for tact.

"However, the prosecution says Captain Tarrant's conduct was unwarranted and far beyond robust leadership and management."

Cmdr Towler said Capt Tarrant's conduct towards his crew would remain civil and appropriate while in dock, but within days of being at sea or on operation he would become increasingly abusive.

The first of five charges, which all date back to between February 1998 and July 1999, involves Lieutenant Ryan Ramsey, who claims the constant "tirades" made him physically sick when he had to begin his shift and led to his becoming withdrawn and losing weight.

Cmdr Towler said that Lt Ramsey claims Capt Tarrant would shout at him for up to 20 minutes with his face only 5cm away from his own.

She added: "Lt Ramsey felt scared of Captain Tarrant. His verbal abuse left him in tears. Lt Ramsey noticed his [Capt Tarrant's] face would gorge with blood during these shouting episodes.

"He considered himself to be abused, harassed and bullied by Captain Tarrant."

The second charge relates to Capt Tarrant's conduct towards Chief Petty Officer Cosxwain (Submarines) Neil Maitland, who claims he would be the subject of shouting and intimidating criticism for no reason.

Captain Tarrant, 44, denies four charges of ill-treating officers under his command through repeated, unjustified, verbal abuse, and a fifth charge against a rating.

The hearing continues.

[naturalman1975]

Well, whether it was abuse or not - it was, at times, pretty stringent behaviour.

I was Royal Australian Navy Cadet Midshipman in the early 1970s - and we were still subject to corporal punishment then (though not when we actually reached Midshipman). I wouldn't call it abusive by any means (it was actually far less severe than I got at school) but that was quite late in history as well.

As for the rest - well, I do recall being reduced to tears by a severe reprimand as a junior officer. But I bloody well deserved the reprimand - I hazarded the ship. They could have done a lot worse to me - at the time I was so grateful they handled it that way actually. Was I wimp and a wuss? Yeah, probably. But I grew out of it.

I don't know if this Captain acted appropriately or not. My gut call would be that he didn't, but there could certainly be evidence that would convince me otherwise.