HMS Nottingham strikes rocks
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
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HMS Nottingham strikes rocks
BBC - Sunday, 7 July, 2002, 21:15 GMT 22:15 UK
Battle to save stricken warship
HMS Nottingham was returning from a deployment
The crew of a Royal Navy destroyer battled to save her after she hit rocks off the coast of Australia. HMS Nottingham started taking on water after Sunday's accident, which happened in poor weather.
The 3,500 tonne vessel is now anchored off the rocks while divers wait for first light to examine the hull for damage.
We have no idea how much water is on board or the extent of the damage
Ben Mitchell, Australia Search and Rescue
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the ship had been made stable, and there were no casualties.
The accident happened two miles east of Lord Howe island - 300 miles north east of Sydney in the Tasman Sea.
The Royal Australian Air Force is preparing to fly out heavy pumping equipment to the vessel from the mainland.
"She has taken on water. There is a fair bit of flooding, we are trying to find out just how much there is," the MoD spokesman said.
The vessel, with 253 crew on board, was on a routine trip from Cairns, in Queensland, north-east Australia, to Wellington, in New Zealand.
Commander David Heley, from the MoD, said the "substantial collision" happened shortly after a minor medical transfer to Lord Howe Island and the ship immediately dropped anchor.
However, he said it was "fruitless" to speculate on the causes until a Royal Navy inquiry had been completed.
The officer said Nottingham's commanding officer Richard Farrington had been in charge of the ship for 18 months to two years and would be in "good hands".
"He's a cool, phlegmatic individual. Obviously, this will be a major challenge but I have every reason to suspect he'll handle this incident with great professionalism."
Ben Mitchell, of Australia Search and Rescue, said the situation was a lot better than first feared when it was reported at 2120 local time.
"At that stage the situation was extremely serious and there were concerns the ship may sink," he said.
"Some consideration was given to beaching the vessel to prevent it sinking. The ship had been holed but the crew managed to stem the inflow of water and they got the situation under control.
"We have no idea how much water is on board or the extent of the damage and have no other details about why it happened or how."
Mr Mitchell said the incident had generated a lot of interest.
"We've had a lot of calls about this - it's not every day that a Royal Navy ship runs aground."
Lord Howe island is a sliver of land just one kilometre wide and 14 km long, surrounded by coral reef.
------------------------------
CNN:
UK warship hits rock off Sydney
July 7, 2002 Posted: 11:14 AM EDT (1514 GMT)
HMS Nottingham
SYDNEY, Australia -- A British warship is being assessed for damage after hitting a rock off the coast of Australia.
The Ministry of Defence, in London, said the Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS Nottingham struck the rock near Lord Howe Island, 200 miles north east of Sydney, on Sunday.
It is thought that the 3,500 tonne vessel -- which is now off the rocks -- was holed in the collision.
It is not immediately clear how extensively she had been damaged.
"She is now considered to be stable and they are assessing the level of damage," a MoD spokesman told the UK Press Association.
There were no reports of any casualties among the 253 crew.
David Gray of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said that the ship was taking on water and had requested heavy pumping gear to be flown out.
Royal Navy divers were also being sent to the scene so that they could assess the scale of the damage below the waterline.
"We were advised by the harbourmaster at Lord Howe Island that HMS Nottingham had hit rocks, was taking water and was having steerage problems," Gray told Sky News.
"There was an urgent request for heavy duty pumping equipment. At the moment the Royal Australian Air Force are loading pumps and will be flying out to Lord Howe Island in the next three or four hours.
"It was rather a panic situation when the broadcast first came out because they weren't too sure how much water they were taking but they have moved to a position now and anchored just off the aerodrome on the island."
A spokesman for the Sydney Harbour Control told CNN that a message had been received from HMS Nottingham that "the situation on board is stable."
The ship is now anchored off Middle Beach on Lord Howe Island.
The 22-year-old vessel had been returning from a deployment in the Far East and Australasia when the accident happened.
She underwent a major refit in November 2000 and last year was deployed to the Middle East.
Battle to save stricken warship
HMS Nottingham was returning from a deployment
The crew of a Royal Navy destroyer battled to save her after she hit rocks off the coast of Australia. HMS Nottingham started taking on water after Sunday's accident, which happened in poor weather.
The 3,500 tonne vessel is now anchored off the rocks while divers wait for first light to examine the hull for damage.
We have no idea how much water is on board or the extent of the damage
Ben Mitchell, Australia Search and Rescue
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the ship had been made stable, and there were no casualties.
The accident happened two miles east of Lord Howe island - 300 miles north east of Sydney in the Tasman Sea.
The Royal Australian Air Force is preparing to fly out heavy pumping equipment to the vessel from the mainland.
"She has taken on water. There is a fair bit of flooding, we are trying to find out just how much there is," the MoD spokesman said.
The vessel, with 253 crew on board, was on a routine trip from Cairns, in Queensland, north-east Australia, to Wellington, in New Zealand.
Commander David Heley, from the MoD, said the "substantial collision" happened shortly after a minor medical transfer to Lord Howe Island and the ship immediately dropped anchor.
However, he said it was "fruitless" to speculate on the causes until a Royal Navy inquiry had been completed.
The officer said Nottingham's commanding officer Richard Farrington had been in charge of the ship for 18 months to two years and would be in "good hands".
"He's a cool, phlegmatic individual. Obviously, this will be a major challenge but I have every reason to suspect he'll handle this incident with great professionalism."
Ben Mitchell, of Australia Search and Rescue, said the situation was a lot better than first feared when it was reported at 2120 local time.
"At that stage the situation was extremely serious and there were concerns the ship may sink," he said.
"Some consideration was given to beaching the vessel to prevent it sinking. The ship had been holed but the crew managed to stem the inflow of water and they got the situation under control.
"We have no idea how much water is on board or the extent of the damage and have no other details about why it happened or how."
Mr Mitchell said the incident had generated a lot of interest.
"We've had a lot of calls about this - it's not every day that a Royal Navy ship runs aground."
Lord Howe island is a sliver of land just one kilometre wide and 14 km long, surrounded by coral reef.
------------------------------
CNN:
UK warship hits rock off Sydney
July 7, 2002 Posted: 11:14 AM EDT (1514 GMT)
HMS Nottingham
SYDNEY, Australia -- A British warship is being assessed for damage after hitting a rock off the coast of Australia.
The Ministry of Defence, in London, said the Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS Nottingham struck the rock near Lord Howe Island, 200 miles north east of Sydney, on Sunday.
It is thought that the 3,500 tonne vessel -- which is now off the rocks -- was holed in the collision.
It is not immediately clear how extensively she had been damaged.
"She is now considered to be stable and they are assessing the level of damage," a MoD spokesman told the UK Press Association.
There were no reports of any casualties among the 253 crew.
David Gray of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said that the ship was taking on water and had requested heavy pumping gear to be flown out.
Royal Navy divers were also being sent to the scene so that they could assess the scale of the damage below the waterline.
"We were advised by the harbourmaster at Lord Howe Island that HMS Nottingham had hit rocks, was taking water and was having steerage problems," Gray told Sky News.
"There was an urgent request for heavy duty pumping equipment. At the moment the Royal Australian Air Force are loading pumps and will be flying out to Lord Howe Island in the next three or four hours.
"It was rather a panic situation when the broadcast first came out because they weren't too sure how much water they were taking but they have moved to a position now and anchored just off the aerodrome on the island."
A spokesman for the Sydney Harbour Control told CNN that a message had been received from HMS Nottingham that "the situation on board is stable."
The ship is now anchored off Middle Beach on Lord Howe Island.
The 22-year-old vessel had been returning from a deployment in the Far East and Australasia when the accident happened.
She underwent a major refit in November 2000 and last year was deployed to the Middle East.
Last edited by ORAC; 7th Jul 2002 at 22:52.
From what I've heard on TV, the situation has been brought under control. Well done to the girls (and girls) - this really does prove that "The team works".
The Royal Navy has always been very good at damage control. Look at the Falklands - if our ships had been unable to fight the action damage they suffered we would have lost more ships and quite possibly lost. And in the twenty years since then - just think of all the mishaps that HM Ships have suffered. Fires, floods, collisions, hitting rocks, aircraft mishaps......
I have always thought that one of the most important parts of training in the Royal Navy is damage control aka NBCD.
The Royal Navy has always been very good at damage control. Look at the Falklands - if our ships had been unable to fight the action damage they suffered we would have lost more ships and quite possibly lost. And in the twenty years since then - just think of all the mishaps that HM Ships have suffered. Fires, floods, collisions, hitting rocks, aircraft mishaps......
I have always thought that one of the most important parts of training in the Royal Navy is damage control aka NBCD.
Gentleman Aviator
And there was me thinking the second "p" in Pprune was:
1. A person who operates the flying controls of an aircraft.
rather than:
2. A person with expert local knowledge, qualified to take charge of a ship entering or leaving harbour.
Poor misguided fool that I am ............
[both definitions from Concise Oxford Dictionary - 10th Edition]
1. A person who operates the flying controls of an aircraft.
rather than:
2. A person with expert local knowledge, qualified to take charge of a ship entering or leaving harbour.
Poor misguided fool that I am ............
[both definitions from Concise Oxford Dictionary - 10th Edition]
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For your information Mr T Head et al, there was some footage of the Nottinghams lynx wazzing around on TV tonight, so lay off!!
Anyway, just because it does't have 6000ft of concrete runway doesn't mean it's nothing to do with military flying!
Wonder who the lucky birdies are...... hope none were on the bridge at the time (Southampton vs oil tanker ring a bell?)
Anyway, just because it does't have 6000ft of concrete runway doesn't mean it's nothing to do with military flying!Wonder who the lucky birdies are...... hope none were on the bridge at the time (Southampton vs oil tanker ring a bell?)
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There is already speculation that HMS Nottingham's Capt may be court martialled over this incident, though, at this early stage, this does seem a little presumptuous.
The RN do seem very quick to court-martial their senior officers, whilst the other 2 services appear strenuously to avoid holding their senior officers to account in this way.
Whilst holing one of Her Majesty's ships is indeed a serious matter, I can think of equally serious f*<k-ups by the other 2 services, for which their senior officers wouldn't possibly have to stand trial.
The RN do seem very quick to court-martial their senior officers, whilst the other 2 services appear strenuously to avoid holding their senior officers to account in this way.
Whilst holing one of Her Majesty's ships is indeed a serious matter, I can think of equally serious f*<k-ups by the other 2 services, for which their senior officers wouldn't possibly have to stand trial.
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courts martial
the captain is always court martialled as a matter of procedure! dont know about anyone else but that seems a bit knee jerk to me. i know the navy's disciplinary procedure is totally different to the other two services but that makes my jaw drop, i know the captain is in charge and is ultimately responsible but does a fleet air arm sqn commander get court martialed when one of his aircraft is damaged or crashes?
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Not as draconian as it sounds canberra. Commonly accepted that the purpose of the court martial is as much to clear him (if appropriate) as to find guilt. It's been the Navy way for centuries.
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Why did the boat driver park on all those stones surely he would have been better dropping his anchor a bit further away from that island.
Perhaps the Pacific was a little to small for him to manouevre.
Perhaps the Pacific was a little to small for him to manouevre.
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You may recall the apocryphal story of the RN vessel that entirely bodged its mooring manoeuvres at Pompey under the unblinking gaze of the Admiral. As the vessel drifted helplessly towards the breakwater the skipper said "What should I do?", and Jimmy replied: "I should take a pub Sir".
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Do-Nut Boy
Please re-acquaint yourself with the full title of this site, and in particular what the first "P" in PPRuNE stands for, before making comments such as those contained in your last post.
If you are neither professional nor qualified then Zip.
If you are neither professional nor qualified then Zip.
Again, I am not in a position to add much, except to say that this was a very serious incident, and the capability of the company of Nottingham to shore up their ship is a reflection of the quality of the Royal Navy's training.
As for the accident itself, there will be a full inquiry, and possibly courts martial. And yes, when naval officers are found guilty their swords are pointed towards them. As for the Captain, did you see him on TV? No passing the back, no excuses, no blaming subordinates, he took responsibility for what happened. That is the REAL difference between and miltary man and a politician or businessman, that is proper conduct from an Officer.
Lets remember that when you put complex machinery in complex environments accidents will happen.
As for the accident itself, there will be a full inquiry, and possibly courts martial. And yes, when naval officers are found guilty their swords are pointed towards them. As for the Captain, did you see him on TV? No passing the back, no excuses, no blaming subordinates, he took responsibility for what happened. That is the REAL difference between and miltary man and a politician or businessman, that is proper conduct from an Officer.
Lets remember that when you put complex machinery in complex environments accidents will happen.
Last edited by WE Branch Fanatic; 8th Jul 2002 at 23:06.
