Fifteen Royal Navy sailors have died in tragic accidents since 2015, MoD reveals

THE number of sailors losing their lives in fatal accidents has dropped to a five-year low, a minister has revealed.
Tom Cotterill
By Tom Cotterill
Published 1st Dec 2020, 16:51 GMT
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Since 2015, 15 sailors lost their lives in tragic mistakes.

However, figures revealed by armed forces minister James Heappey, have shown the number of deaths have dropped each year.

The information rounds up all deaths that occurred both on and off duty among regular personnel.

Personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have been training at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth in preparation for The National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in London on Sunday.Personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have been training at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth in preparation for The National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in London on Sunday.
Personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have been training at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth in preparation for The National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in London on Sunday.
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But it does not identify those deaths that were ‘work-related that may or may not have been the result of health and safety failures’.

In 2015, five sailors lost their lives, dropping to just one last year. The grim figure is lowest of all three services. The army recorded the highest number of deaths, with 85 soldiers losing their lives – increasing from 14 in 2015, to 20 last year.

While 19 personnel in the RAF died, increasing from three in 2015 to seven last year. Mr Heappey said : ‘The Ministry of Defence takes the health and wellbeing of our personnel extremely seriously.’

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