Australia: The captain of the destroyer HMS Nottingham and three of his former officers were yesterday disciplined at a court martial after they pleaded guilty to their parts in causing the warship to run aground on rocks off Australia last year.
Commander Richard Farrington (43), the captain of the Type 42 destroyer, pleaded guilty to failing to delegate the responsibility of command of the ship properly. He was sentenced to a reprimand - one of the lower navy court martial sentences - due to his charge not carrying any responsibility for the actual grounding.
His second in command, executive officer Lieut Commander John Lea (38), and the officer of the watch, Lieut James Denney (28), were both dismissed from their current ships after pleading guilty to negligence.
Lieut Andrew Ingham (27), the ship's navigator, was sentenced to a severe reprimand after also pleading guilty to negligence.
The charges all related to allowing HMS Nottingham to be stranded off Lord Howe Island, Queensland, on July 7th, 2002. The grounding ripped a 100ft hole in the ship which caused a repair bill of £39 million, and forced the British navy to bring the warship back to the UK on a transporter.
The president of the court martial, Commodore Phillip Wilcocks, told all four defendants: "This incident has undermined the high reputation of the Royal Navy and caused significant embarrassment, wasted resources, and took an operational warship out of active duty for a long period.
"The most important message from this court martial is that the highest navigational standards must be maintained at all times to ensure safety at sea. They are ignored at our peril. Your punishments reflect the gravity of these offences."
At the time of the grounding, HMS Nottingham was on a "flag waving" diplomatic mission, and was heading towards New Zealand.
The ship had left Cairns in northern Queensland on July 4th, and was scheduled to arrive in New Zealand on July 11th. It is expected to be ready for sea trials in the spring, before it can re-enter service. - (PA)