A Royal Navy officer has crashed his ship into another vessel while attempting to dock in the dark for the first time, reportedly causing £100,000 damage.
The 200ft HMS Chiddingfold is said to have torn its hull after it twice crashed into companion vessel HMS Penzance as the captain tried to parallel park in a base in the Middle East.
It was Lieutenant Commander Simon Reeves’s first attempt at such a manoeuvre, according to The Sun.
The minehunter will now be out of action for months as its glass-reinforced plastic hull is repaired, sources have said.
The collision comes less than a week after the experienced officer took over as captain of the minehunter which is based at the UK naval base in Bahrain.
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“He slammed her into reverse, but was too late. Chiddingfold’s side hit HMS Penzance. She swung out and hit her again,” a source told The Sun.
There were said to be two deafening bangs as the impact tore a hole in the 700-tonne HMS Chiddingfold.
The Navy blamed “wind, tide and equipment failure” for the incident which happened on March 16.
HMS Chiddingfold, which launched in 1983, is known as “Cheery Chid” and is based in Portsmouth. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy a year later.
The minesweeper joined HMS Penzance in the Gulf in June last year, when she embarked on a planned stint defending the sea lane in the Middle East.
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She is also used to find and destroy mines and explosives from previous conflicts.
Lieutenant Commander Reeves joined the Royal Navy as a warfare officer in 2006. He is married with two young children.
It is thought that he has “extensive experience” in the operation of Hunt-class ships and that “extenuating circumstances” were to blame.
