Police are investigating the “unexplained” death of a junior Royal Navy serviceman at a high-security nuclear submarine base.
Officers were called to Faslane, the home of Britain’s nuclear weapons, on Scotland’s west coast at around 12.30pm on Thursday.
The male submariner, named last night as Stephen Cashman, an engineering technician onboard HMS Vengeance, was found dead in a naval accommodation block. HMS Vengeance is one of four submarines that carries Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent.
The circumstances of his death are still unclear. A naval source said: “Faslane navy base is pretty secure.” They added a “significant” number of people worked at the base and went in and out.
A Royal Navy Spokesman said: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm Engineering Technician Stephen Cashman died on Thursday 9 December.
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“Our thoughts and sympathies are with Stephen’s family and friends at this difficult time and we request their privacy is respected.”
Faslane, otherwise known as Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, is the navy’s headquarters in Scotland and also hosts four nuclear-powered Astute-class submarines.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed they were aware of the incident but refused to comment further.
A police spokesperson said: “A post mortem examination will be carried out to establish the exact cause of death, which is being treated as unexplained. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
Hundreds of safety incidents have been recorded at Faslane over the last 15 years, according to Ministry of Defence figures.
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In 2018 the then-defence minister Stuart Andrew revealed 505 “events” were recorded at the base since 2006. He added: “These events may be near misses, equipment failures, human error or procedural failings.”