![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() He had been urged to take this action by the director of naval security who told him that although gay sex among consenting adult civilians had been legalised two years earlier, in 1967, it was time to end the "kid-glove approach" which had had "little or no effect". He told captains senior ratings "must be made to accept responsibility for stamping out this vice", adding that no one could afford to be "complacent since it is doubtful that there are any ships where such practices are unknown". It led to Admiral Sir John Bush, the commander in chief, western fleet, issuing orders to all ships that "there is regrettably ample evidence that homosexual practices are rife in the fleet but for a variety of reasons disciplinary action can only be taken in a small minority of known cases". In one case the navy considered dismissing more than 300 sailors. The files show that the 1969 panic over homosexuality in the navy was sparked by two previously unknown cases and by concerns over the number of sailors ending up with the catamites of Bugis Street when on shore leave in Singapore. ![]() The files reveal that although service chiefs justified the ban on the grounds that homosexuality lay naval ratings and officers open to the threat of being blackmailed into "turning traitor", their most senior legal advisers admitted there was not a single known case of this happening. It was finally abolished in January 2000. The secret admiralty files released yesterday at the public record office under the 30-year rule lay bare how the navy implemented the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the armed forces. They concluded they "couldn't afford to throw them all out as the navy would not be adequately manned" and so added to Winston Churchill's claim that the only traditions of the Royal Navy were "rum, sodomy and the lash". ![]()
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