Reports now indicate that Ryan Donovan, 22, a sailor on HMS Astute, burst into the submarine control room and opened fire with an SA80 assault rifle yesterday, killing the ship’s weapons engineering officer, Lt. Cmdr. Ian Molyneux, 36, and wounding a second officer, Lieutenant Commander Chris Hodge. The shooting took place during a tour of the submarine by the Southhampton City Council. The leader of the Southampton Council, Royston Smith, reportedly wrestled the rifle away from the shooter. Southhampton Mayor, Carol Cunio, said she helped stanch blood flowing from Lieutenant Commander Hodge, who had been shot below the ribs on his right side. Lieutenant Commander Hodge is reported to be stable condition.
Senior officer killed in UK nuclear sub shooting
The motive for the shooting remains unclear, though it is suggested that back to back deployments and the cancellation of shore may have motivated the shooting. Other reports published in Britain quoted crewmen as saying it followed a dispute over the use of a submarine toilet.
British submarine shooting ‘sparked by shore leave dispute’
Thanks to Phil Leon and Irwin Bryan for passing articles along.
This incident seems on one hand to show the Royal Navy in decline, sharing personnel problems similar to those that afflicted other countries’ armed forces, including the US. On the other hand, it also shows civilians reponding with bravery and resourcefulness even in the compact space of a submarine control room. Maybe the civilians could be decorated for behavior worthy of the nation that survived the London blitz.
Today the UK is nothing like the country where I went to College and served in the Merchant Navy. The behaviour of its citizens reflects the nation which is now a bouillabaisse; nice in small servings but not to live on every day. The people of the Blitz are mostly gone or elderly like myself (75) and keep a low profile. The Nation of ‘Great Britain’ of the Blitz days is long gone.
Good Watch.
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