Navy Probes Submarine Sex Pests Scandal

Inderdeep Bains’ bombshell revelations of misogyny, bullying and sexual harassment aboard Britain’s nuclear submarines sent shockwaves through the armed services. The Royal Navy was forced to launch probe after probe as a queue of whistleblowers trusted Bains with their harrowing and deeply private stories. Last month (October 2024) the First Sea Lord, Sir Ben Key, praised the Mail’s investigation as he threw the book at his own service for the scandals Bains had uncovered. He sacked 21 men and delivered a grovelling apology as a damning internal report concluded sexual attacks had become ‘normalised’. Yet Bains went on to deliver further embarrassing revelations including how a senior naval officer was given a gong in the King’s Honours List while under investigation in the sex pest scandal.

Bains started her series with an expose of serious claims of mistreatment up and down the chain of command in the Submarine Service, complete with a shocking interview with former lieutenant Sophie Brook, the UK’s first female warfare officer. Bains worked hard to gain her trust and thanks to her care, professionalism and empathy, Brook agreed to waive her right to anonymity to give the powerful story a searing edge. It also encouraged other whistleblowers to come forward, all of whom placed their confidence in Bains to lift the lid on the scandal with shocking detail yet without causing them to be identified. The result was an explosive series of articles detailing disturbing allegations of rape, sexual assault and casual misogyny aboard Vanguard nuclear submarines, Britain’s most vital and deadly weapon.

Don’t just take our word for it - consider this extract from an impact statement written by Ms Brook who said: ‘I was failed by the Royal Navy from the year I joined the Submarine Service until the year I left the military. I spent my entire career terrified of the Press but, as it turns out, they were the only people that heard what I had to say. It was because of the determination of one woman, Inderdeep Bains, to listen and understand what I was saying. It is because of her commitment and integrity to her job that she got to the truth. The Royal Navy has a lot to learn.’

Bains’s revelations were widely followed up by newspapers and the BBC and led to the full inquiry by defence chiefs which last month resulted in root and branch reform of the Navy’s HR policies.

Bains, the Mail’s Deputy Chief Reporter, thrives on journalism that requires a deft touch with victims of crime and she is highly motivated by stories that expose injustice. One of the Mail’s most prolific reporters, she has been at the forefront of the newspaper’s coverage of big stories from royals to crime to political dramas.