Wiring error meant HMS Chiddingfold went backwards when set to go forward and hit HMS Bangor in Bahrain, say sources
  • LadEnglish
    15•5 months ago

    embarrassing blunder that the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, insisted did not reflect incompetence.

    “HMS Chiddingfold’s motor was wired incorrectly and full ahead gave full astern,” a navy insider said

    Well Shapps, that sounds like incompetence to me

    • TWeaKEnglish
      4•5 months ago

      I think the mistake itself doesn’t necessarily point to incompetence, however the fact that it wasn’t properly tested and verified does.

    • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]English
      2•5 months ago

      Fr, I know 1984 comparisons elicit eyerolls at this point, and for good reason, but come on. “We’re not incompetent, we’re simply incompetent.”

  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    5•5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Two Royal Navy warships crashed into each other in Bahrain at the end of last week because one was incorrectly rewired, meaning that it unexpectedly went into reverse when it was set to go forward, military sources said.

    But naval sources said on Sunday they believed the cause of the accident was a simple rewiring error in a recently inspected vessel.

    The vessel had been recently inspected by officers at the maritime capability, trials and assessment team, they added.

    Fresh video and pictures from inside HMS Bangor show sunlight clearly coming through a hole at the end of a kitchen cabin and damage to sleeping berths.

    Both warships, designed to seek out and eliminate sea mines, are based in the Gulf as part of the longstanding British naval presence in the Middle East, recently strengthened in response to the growing crisis in the southern Red Sea.

    The Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the causes of the accident, saying its investigation was continuing, but earlier on Sunday Shapps denied that the crash between the two warships was a product of ineptitude.

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