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Britain's Royal Navy yesterday ordered an inquiry into how a state-of-the-art warship ran into rocks off Australia's east coast, as Australian military divers tried to establish the extent of the damage caused by the collision.

HMS Nottingham smashed into Wolfe Rock, 3km off World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island, on Sunday night, and immediately started taking on water.

At one point it was feared the 3,500-tonne destroyer might sink - a major embarrassment for the Royal Navy and the ship's captain, Richard Farrington. None of the 253-strong crew was injured.

Commander Farrington, 41, will probably face a court martial, a standard procedure when ships run aground or collide.

He said he felt a shudder go through the vessel as it rammed into the rocks, describing it as 'the worst feeling in the world'.

'It felt like a series of very heavy judders. I knew that we had collided with something. Initially I prayed to God it was a container or something like that or even, God forbid, a small boat or something. I had no idea it would be the world's biggest rock,' he said.

'We have taken some pretty significant damage in the forward half of the ship, underneath, and there is flooding in quite a lot of the forward part of the ship.'

He said he had been aware of the position of the rocks and that the accident was probably the result of 'an uncomfortable mix of unhappy coincidences and human error'.

Commander Farrington issued a distress call after the accident because the severely flooded vessel was in danger of breaking its back. But soon afterwards the Nottingham managed to float free from Wolfe Rock and anchored closer to Lord Howe Island, which lies midway between Australia and New Zealand.

The destroyer was on its way from Queensland to Wellington, New Zealand, when it sailed to Lord Howe in order to offload a crew member, who was ill.

It hit the rocks while manoeuvring in rough seas and strong winds.

A team of 10 Australian navy divers flew to the island at dawn yesterday, along with heavy pumping equipment that was then ferried to the Nottingham by helicopters.

The divers found that the stricken ship's fuel tanks remained intact, although five compartments had been ruptured and the ship was leaking diesel oil.

The crew spent yesterday frantically pumping water out of the ruptured areas and today will be joined by a team of salvage experts flown out from Britain.

Environmentalists feared a major oil spill would have a devastating effect on pristine Lord Howe. The island is surrounded by golden sandy beaches and a large, shallow lagoon popular with snorkelers and divers.

Yesterday a kilometre-long diesel slick spread from the Nottingham, but local officials said wind and waves were pushing it out to sea.



Court martial likely after warship runs aground