I was humiliated & locked up on Scientology ship by cult’s ‘God-like’ founder – but I heard something even more chilling
IT sounds like a scene from a Hollywood horror film - a terrified 12-year-old girl locked up and surviving on just scraps of food in the rusty, dark, damp hull of a ship.
But this was the harsh reality for Danielle Chamberlin, who grew up within Scientology and was sent by her mum to serve at the religion’s "prestigious" Sea Organisation.
Innocently dressed in pigtails and flip-flops, Danielle recalls arriving scared and alone in Lisbon, Portugal, to join Scientology’s flagship Apollo.
“I had no idea what was waiting for me aboard that ship, but it was nothing short of child abuse”, recalls retired Danielle, now 63.
“What I saw there still haunts me to this day.”
The married mum of two claims she endured countless terrifying incidents within the secretive world of Scientology.
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The most infamous on the planet hit headlines once again recently, when its West Sussex UK headquarters hosted its lavish annual ball last month.
Its illustrious supporter, actor Tom Cruise, is believed to have been in attendance, travelling to the soiree in his private helicopter.
Thrown overboard as punishment
It was in September 1973 when wide-eyed Danielle was first thrown into the religion.
She claims to have witnessed barbaric cruelty at the hands of the religion’s controversial American founder, L. Ron Hubbard (known as LRH) aboard the Atlantic-based Apollo.
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“One of his punishments - he called them 'ethics' - saw him throw people into the freezing sea, even if they couldn’t swim, and someone would eventually go in after them."
'Scientology gave the answers to life'
Danielle and her family moved to West Sussex a month earlier from South Africa to be close to Scientology’s headquarters at Saint Hill, East Grinstead.
She says: “My mother was bohemian and smart. Scientology gave the answers to life itself and the promise of ‘more life’ beyond this one.
"Its purpose is to ‘clear the planet’.
"In order to achieve that level of ‘clear’ as an individual, you dedicated your life to a training programme, moving through the ranks.”
'I was terrified'
Danielle started at a West Sussex state school but recalls being collected each day by bus and taken to Saint Hill to study and do housework, where her mum also worked and studied.
A month later, she was sent to Lisbon to join the Sea Organisation aboard the Apollo, which was considered an "honour".
Arriving at the port, Danielle recalls Hubbard stood on deck, before she was shown to a damp, dark dormitory which she shared with four older women.
“He was like a God to us. I was terrified,” she says.
“I was a ‘Snipes Steward', serving meals to the engineers and cleaning.
“It was physically tough, but I didn’t mind it at first.
"The engineers were kind and I just kept my head down.”
'A guy ripped my top off'
Danielle wrote letters to her mum as they sailed the Canary Islands.
Supervised days away from the boat were granted on ‘Liberty Day’ but only if she’d performed well.
Danielle was later transferred to L. Ron Hubbard’s direct command and trained to be a ‘Commodore’s Messenger’ - his personal assistant.
She says: "He was a dominating, erratic character and you never knew when he’d erupt.
“He didn’t physically abuse me, but I feared him.
“During a communications drill, I was in a ‘bull-baiting’ session with a man, where you have to remain calm while they rile you up.
“The guy ripped my bra off. It wasn’t sexual, but he tried to humiliate me and it made me defiant.
“I decided to find a way to leave the ship, by whatever means.”
Screaming for help for hours
But Danielle’s defiance didn’t block out her fear.
“One of the most chilling things I remember was hearing a boy screaming for hours while locked up in the motor room,” she recalls.
“He had a reputation for misbehaving and was sent off the Apollo shortly afterwards.
"I thought I might have found a way to escape - by being naughty.”
It was hell. The rusty, wet metal smell of the ship’s enormous anchor chains was nightmarish. It was hard to breathe. I was fed like an animal.
Danielle
Presented with an arduous filing task, Danielle seized the opportunity to rebel.
She says: “I had this pile of ‘knowledge reports’ of important information about the crew. It was up to my waist and there was no way I was filing it.
“My periods had started and I was angry about the lack of sanitary products on the ship, so I shredded all of the reports.”
Locked up in 'hell'
Danielle was immediately locked up in the ship’s hull for three days - which haunts her to this day.
She says: “It was hell. The rusty, wet metal smell of the ship’s enormous anchor chains was nightmarish. It was hard to breathe.
“I was fed like an animal, with small plates of foul rice and beans and taken out to the toilet.”
What is Scientology?
- Scientology became a recognised religion in the UK in 2013, after its creation in America in 1954 by the now-deceased science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard.
- Current boss David Miscavige took the helm in 1984.
- Miscavige - often described as a 'powerful, ruthless character' was best man at Tom Cruise's Italian wedding to actress Katie Holmes in 2006.
- The Church of Scientology says its worldwide members are in the millions, while external estimates stand at 40,000.
- According to a 2021 census, there are just under 2,000 Scientologists in the UK.
- The Church says it has members in 184 countries and eight bases across the UK - Saint Hill, Brighton, Plymouth, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Edinburgh, Manchester and London.
- The Scientology belief system is complex but at its core is re-incarnation, and they promise “enlightenment” with scientific and spiritual techniques.
- It aims to “clear the planet” of insanity, trauma, crime and war through its extreme practices.
- To become “clear” as an individual, Scientologists commit to a process called “auditing” which claims to remove traumatic life events with an electronic device, likened to a 1950s lie-detector test.
- An intense series of courses is the backbone to becoming a dedicated Scientologist, some costing hundreds - even thousands - of pounds.
- While Germany, France and other European countries have rejected Scientology as a religion, the UK upholds its religious status.
Danielle says LRH knew she was resolute, and he released her from the ship.
She was sent home in October 1974, aged 13, and went back to her schooling and evening shifts at Saint Hill.
“I don’t remember my mother being pleased to see me. Showing emotions was never encouraged in Scientology families,” she says.
Breaking point
Danielle was 19 when she broke free from Scientology for good.
She was back in the UK working as an "LRH Communicator" at St Mary’s Religious College in Rottingdean, near Brighton, when she reached breaking point.
Danielle claims her mum, who has since passed away, had a stroke at age 42 and was prevented from having medical treatment by a Scientologist.
Danielle says: “She was left paralysed. They kicked her out without any support whatsoever, despite decades of dedication.
“I was so angry and utterly devastated for her. That’s when I left, and never went back."
Danielle got a receptionist job and carved out a career in IT before getting married and having twin daughters in 1994.
A time for reflection
Now happily living in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, with her husband and grown-up daughters, Danielle sometimes still reflects on her “horrific” year aboard the Apollo.
She says: “I asked my mother before she died, ‘how could you have sent me away like that?’
"She said ‘why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want to go?’ And that’s how it was.
"Parents believed they were doing the right thing."
A spokesperson for Scientology said: “Danielle Chamberlin is completely discreditable.
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"Her delusions about being incarcerated aboard the ship Apollo in 1973 are both absurd as well as highly inflammatory and damaging."
The Family Survival Trust: Action Against Cultic Abuse, holds regular support groups for survivors of Scientology: [email protected]
