Royal Navy chief shuts squalid living quarters at base dubbed 'HMS Collingrad' trends now
Woeful living quarters at a Royal Navy base dubbed 'HMS Collingrad' are to be axed after furious sailors shared images of the 'absolutely horrendous' conditions of their crumbling, maggot-infested accommodation.
Vice Admiral Martin Connell, the Second Sea Lord, announced he was closing Vivian Block after military personnel compared the squalid state of HMS Collingwood to Stalingrad, the Russian city reduced to ruins during the Second World War.
The top navy chief - who is in charge of the welfare of the Senior Service's 39,410 personnel - admitted it was 'clear' more needed to be done to give sailors 'the accommodation they deserve'.
His comments come weeks after sailors at the training base in Fareham, Hampshire, broke ranks to share pictures of the shocking conditions of the site, which had been damaged by flooding and left without hot water or heating over the winter.
The pictures showed servicemen crammed together in small cabins, sleeping on camp beds, while other images revealed crumbling walls and broken showers. Sailors even complained their fridges were 'infested with maggots'.
The state of disrepair in HMS Collingwood over the last 12 months has been revealed by 'fed-up' sailors who shared images on social media - with the Navy's Second Sea Lord last now revealing that the Vivian block (pictured) would be closed
HMS Collingwood in Fareham, Hampshire, has been blighted by flooding - proving to be the last straw for many sailors unhappy with its living conditions
Taking to Twitter last night amid mounting pressure to act, Vice Adm Connell wrote: 'Last week I visited HMS Collingwood to see the state of accommodation for myself. Despite recent efforts, I've made the decision to close Vivian Block & everyone affected will be relocated. It's clear we need to do more to give our sailors the accommodation they deserve & expect'
Sailors at Collingwood say that as well as silverfish and maggots living on fridge freezers, they have to deal with broken showers and radiators, blocked and overflowing toilets, and fire alarms that sound continuously late at night.
Several personnel blasted the Navy's maintenance systems and are demanding urgent changes, with one sailor saying: 'The state of the accommodation is ridiculous. We have reported it formally - and we have been told to get on with it. I know for a fact there's multiple complaints every week.
'[Sailors] have all been put in overcrowded rooms, rooms for two have had six or seven people in. Some in mixed blocks. The worst I have seen would be maggots and other insects living on a fridge door.
'We're all just fed up. People are wanting to hand their chit in (quit) and get gone if they are able to.'
Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage - whose constituency covers Collingwood, says she had been
