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A ROYAL Navy training base was “locked down” over revenge porn claims in the latest sex scandal to rock the senior service.

Navy chiefs ordered a communication blackout at HMS Raleigh to stop X-rated images of a recruit going viral.

Entrance to HMS Raleigh naval base.
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Navy chiefs ordered a communication blackout at HMS Raleigh to stop X-rated images of a recruit going viralCredit: Google

Hundreds of rookies — including some as young as 16 and 17 — were ordered to hand in their phones.

A message sent to their parents said: “Welfare calls are being made to under-18s’ parents to say that their recruits are OK but the base is on communication blackout due to an ongoing police investigation.”

The Navy warned parents that the blackout — known as River City state — could last up to 96 hours.

The Sun understood that two recruits at HMS Raleigh, in Torpoint, Cornwall, had been in a relationship prior to joining .

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A Navy source told The Sun: “They had joined in separate intakes and when the young woman enlisted, some time after her former partner, she discovered that intimate pictures had been shared on the base without her consent.

"By that point her former partner had already left the Navy. He never completed training.

“Only one person is under investigation. No other recruits are suspected of wrongdoing.”

The Royal Navy said: “The welfare of our recruits is our number one priority and a restriction on the use of mobile phones was in place for a short time.

"A civilian police investigation is ongoing.”

The incident comes days after the Navy’s most senior officer, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key, was suspended over an alleged affair, and the captain of warship HMS Tyne, Lt Cdr Martyn Mayger, was stripped of command amid claims of “unacceptable sexual behaviour”.

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