The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has finally confirmed British military personnel were onboard US ships in the build-up to the US attack on Venezuela. Despite the Navy’s own public statements confirming at least one UK officer was attached, the MOD refused to confirm key details about UK sailors presence to the Canary back in November 2025.
Legacy media also confirmed the presence of multiple UK personnel in Trump’s armada.
Now, the UK NGO Action on Armed Violence has managed to get a confirmation from the MOD. However, specifics like the exact number of personnel and their roles are still being denied despite the obvious public interest.
Back in November 2025, the Canary made a request for the numbers, plus ranks, specialisms, and trades of UK personnel in the Caribbean armada positioned to undertake operations related to Venezuela.
A Royal Navy spokesperson told us:
Armed forces personnel regularly serve on exchange programmes with our key military partners around the world.
They added a single bulleted caveat:
We do not provide specific details on individuals due to operational and personal security.
With that in mind, we asked for a general confirmation of whether embedded personnel were aircrew or Royal Marines. The latter serve as the Navy’s infantry and contribute a large number of personnel to UK special forces, alongside many other roles. The spokesperson refused to divulge further details:
We cannot provide any further information at this time.
Confirmation of UK presence
Thanks to AOAV, we now know a little more. The NGO reported on 27 August:
Royal Navy personnel were seconded to US Navy vessels in the Caribbean during the same period that American forces began a controversial campaign of lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
The admission, obtained by Action on Armed Violence through Freedom of Information legislation, raises questions about Britain’s proximity to operations that the UN and human-rights organisations have described as extrajudicial killings.
AOAV asked:
whether British personnel served aboard US vessels between 1 September and 22 December 2025.
The organisation rightly pointed out that the new disclosure – read it here – does not:
establish British involvement in any attack.
the MOD has refused to reveal how many Royal Navy personnel were deployed, their ranks and roles, or the US vessels aboard which they served, citing defence and international-relations exemptions.
That secrecy makes it impossible to determine whether British personnel were serving aboard ships supporting the lethal campaign at the time the strikes were taking place.
AOAV rightly argued that the question now is not whether there were UK sailors present. That part is confirmed. Rather:
It is what role, if any, they played in an American operation that Britain’s own allies, parliamentarians and leading human-rights bodies have questioned on fundamental legal grounds.
AOAV director and long-time investigative journalist Iain Overton said:
The MOD has confirmed that British personnel were serving on US Navy vessels during a period in which those forces were carrying out lethal strikes that senior UN officials and human-rights organisations have described as unlawful.
That does not mean British personnel were intrinsically involved in those attacks. But it does mean there are legitimate questions about which ships they were serving on, what roles they performed and whether they had any connection to the operations. Those questions should be answered.
There is an obvious public interest in fuller disclosure in this case. The British public have a right to know what their servicemen are caught up in. Especially when we consider a year of allegations of extrajudicial killings.
Featured image via RoyalNavy
By Joe Glenton
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