'Sleazy sex, bullying' on HMAS Success

The commander of the navy vessel at the centre of sleazy sex allegations says he was
made aware of a catalogue of kinky misdemeanours and a culture of booze-fuelled
coercion by sailors on his ship.
Two able seamen performed a sex act on a Chinese bar's pool table while on Anzac Day
shore leave from HMAS Success, as other sailors watched and cheered, Commanding
Officer Simon Brown alleges.
A video of the incident was also made, he said.
Cmdr Brown also alleges a junior female sailor and a senior male officer had sex on
the ship's mess deck about the same time in 2009, during a two-month tour of duty.
Both those involved in the mess deck romp were disciplined while those involved in
the pool table allegations had not faced any disciplinary action, he said.
On another occasion during the same tour, his sailors were accused of smashing up a
bar in Manila.
Speaking at an independent inquiry into the conduct, Cmdr Brown said he was made
aware shortly after the incidents of allegations that a "predatory culture" had
existed on the ship for some time.
The alleged pool table incident, said to have taken place on or about April 26, and
the mess deck sex were investigated by the ship's onboard police officer, he said.
More broad allegations were then made by several senior female officers during an
onboard meeting with him.
"When we got down to the specifics, I was told about alleged bullying, told about
bounties being placed on female officers - who could have sex with them first," Cmdr
Brown told the inquiry hearing in Sydney on Friday.
"I was told about a predatory culture within the ship, particularly in the
engineering department.
"I was told about drinking games and female officers being got drunk so they would
be compliant.
"I asked how long this had been going and whether this had been happening while we
were in Hawaii the previous year, and I was told it was, but the situation had got
worse."
Describing the specifics of the sex incidents, he told the inquiry: "There was a
couple of incidents I became aware of.
"The first one involved a female junior sailor and a male sailor who were alleged to
have been involved in sex onboard, in one of the mess decks.
"There was another that two able seamen had been involved in a sex act in a public
house.
"It was reported to me as being on a pool table and then a seat."
All the incidents are said to have taken place during a tour of duty from late March
2009 until early June.
During the tour, HMAS Success called at Darwin, Manila, China, Hong Kong, Singapore,
and waters east of Malaysia.
The inquiry, led by retired judge Roger Gyles, comes after an earlier investigation
in an alleged sex ring on the vessel was found to be biased.
The alleged ring, known as The Ledger, involved sailors plotting to have sex with as
many female crew mates as possible.
Three sailors were sent home after the alleged activities were discovered while HMAS
Success was visiting Singapore in May 2009.
The Ledger allegedly involved dollar values being placed on each woman's head, with
larger amounts offered if the sailors could sleep with a female officer or a
lesbian.
The Defence Department had launched a formal inquiry, but Defence Force head Air
Chief Marshal Angus Houston ordered a new inquiry last month following legal advice
that the initial investigation was biased.
The inquiry is continuing.