One of the world’s most hi-tech warships was left stranded in a British harbour – because the sea was too ROUGH.
HMS Diamond, a 7,500 tonne destroyer, spent the weekend in Aberdeen to mark its affiliation with the city.
But navy bosses had concerns about the massive vessel leaving the narrow harbour in such choppy conditions, and decided to stay put instead of leaving on Monday.
A spokesman for the Royal Navy said: ”There was nothing untoward.
”They just decided to stay where they were due to the adverse weather conditions.
”It’s a big ship and a fairly narrow channel so they thought it was more prudent to stay where they were.”
HMS Diamond, described as the jewel in the navy’s crown, is a Type 45 destroyer. It is the third of six new ships built as part of a £6 billion Royal Navy project.
She is twice as big as the ageing Type 42s she is replacing, but she can make herself appear as small as a fishing boat on an enemy radar.
It has enough space to land a chinook helicopter, is armed with sea-viper missiles and has enough power to supply a city with energy.
The boat was officially launched in November 2007, and is on a 10-month sea trial before it goes into service in July.
Navy chiefs decided to affiliate the ship with Aberdeen and the vessel arrived on Friday.
Locals were given a tour of the boat, the first one to be linked with the city for 18 years.
But despite the weather, fisherman Jimmy Buchan had his much smaller boat, which only measures 21 metres, out at sea on Monday.
He said: ”You would have thought a boat that size could cope with any kind of weather.
You can’t stop a war because there’s a storm.
”The weather was pretty bad, pretty stormy, but we went out.
”But there’s a difference between them and me – if I don’t go to sea I don’t get paid. They still get their wages if they stay in the harbour.
”I would imagine the captain decided to make a health and safety decision to keep his crew safe. He was covering himself.”
It’s a ship not a boat!
There is a big difference between damaging a billion pound destroyer, when their is no need to leave the tiny harbour, and scratching a rusty old tug boat. I have the greatest respect for the fishermen and the very dangerous job they do but perhaps the fishermen might like to offer there services next time the Royal Navy go to war to help protect the very rights of the fishermen to fish.
Perhaps HMS Diamond should think twice before returning to such a poorly equipped harbour?
Totally agree, the ship is not commissioned yet, still under sea trials and imagine going to BAE (warranty??!) and saying “can you repair our ship, its been damaged going through a harbour with 2 metre gap each way and less than that in draft”.
I firmly believe the reporter should take “on board” the facts. It’s not like we are under attack from the “Armada” and I, like you, know our Navy will be there when we need them (i.e: for 7 months at a time – away from families & friends) The crew were hoping to be on their way home now, but a billion pound warship is more important eh? Thanks to all the devoted crew on HMS Diamond putting this flagship of the Royal Navy first against all their wishes to return to port.
Please see my post below and can assure you the port, one of the UK’s busiest is far from poorly equipped. That said Diamond will be one of the largest vessels calling this year but unfortunate weather conditions can happen anywhere in the world……..
Also, would the reporter like our ships to fight another day (when needed) or take a very big risk (during sea trials & under warranty) bouncing off the harbour walls?
These lads have spent half a year at a time serving in the Iraq War, Indian Ocean (Tsunami – remember?) and Caribbean on drugs and smuggling patrols in deployments that haven’t even been mentioned in the press – cos they just get on with the job without the publicity !
Finally, start a campaign to widen the harbour to cope with our new large destroyers in order that they have a safe haven in times of need !
SHOCKINGLY IGNORANT COMMENTS FROM A NORTH EAST SKIPPER…
I WON’T LISTEN TO ANOTHER WORD OF Mr. ” CELEBRITY ” SKIPPER’S POLITICAL SPOUTS………..OR WATCH ANY OF HIS REPEATS.
THE DIAMOND QUITE SIMPLY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH WATER TO SAIL OUT OF ABERDEEN HARBOUR DUE TO THE LARGE EASTERLY SWELL RUNNING UP THE CHANNEL ENTRANCE. SHE WOULD HAVE NEEDED WHEELS !!!!!!! IT WAS A DECISION MADE FOR THE CAPTAIN…..WHO SAILED AT THE FIRST SAFE OPERUNITY…….
( WRITTEN BY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS…. )
Adrian Hearn shouldn’t be a reporter, or shouldn’t be reporting on military matters, its blatant common sense not to take a 7,500 tonne warship out of a channel that is barely wider than the ship itself in rough conditions, that Fishermans view is the worst representation of the publics thoughts he could of chosen – which is also clearly demonstrated by the comments on this thread.