The Royal Navy is investigating the allegations that Royal Marines, assigned to guard the British nuclear arsenal at Faslane, Scotland, are involved in bullying the fresh recruits as part of ‘initiation ceremonies’.
Faslane on the River Clyde houses the UK’s fleet of Trident nuclear submarines.
According to a report by the Times, 12 newly recruited commandos in the Fleet Protection Group were subjected to the initiation ceremony.
They were allegedly forced to perform a ‘rite of passage’, which required them to do 100 pushups with a person mounted on their back.
The Naval Service and Royal Navy Police have said that they are probing into the incident.
A Royal Navy spokesman was quoted by the Independent as saying: "Members of the naval service are assisting Royal Navy police with an investigation. We do not tolerate any form of harassment or bullying and take all allegations very seriously. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."
Rear Admiral Christopher Parry told the Times: "There needs to be zero tolerance. It is pretty unprofessional."
The report followed a series of allegations of rape and pimping of recruits by senior officials at the Deepcut training depot in Surrey.
Four army recruits were reportedly shot dead at the Surrey facility between 1995 and 2002.
The allegations surfaced weeks after a hearing on the death of 18-year-old recruit Cheryl James. James was found dead with a gunshot wound to her head at Deepcut army barracks in 1995, and is suspected to have been sexually exploited by her seniors.
