HMS Nottingham (D91)

HMS Nottingham was a batch two Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy, named after the city of Nottingham, England. She was launched on 18 February 1980, and commissioned on 8 April 1983 as the sixth warship to bear the name. Her commanding officer at commissioning was Commander Nigel Essenhigh (in his first major command role) who went on to become First Sea Lord. On her first cruise to Oporto, Portugal and then Gibraltar the destroyer lost two sailors to a drowning incident while on shore leave visiting a beach in Oporto. In November 2000, Nottingham completed a major refit, which was intended to extend her operational life to 2012, although she was later placed in reserve and decommissioned on 11 February 2010. On 7 July 2002, Nottingham ran aground on the submerged but well-charted Wolf Rock near Lord Howe Island, off the coast of Australia causing £26 million worth of damage. A hole was torn down the side of the vessel from bow to bridge, flooding five of her compartments and nearly causing her to sink. HMNZS Te Mana and HMNZS Endeavour provided relief for the crew for approximately 2–3 weeks. The accident happened in poor weather after a set of manoeuvres to allow a sailor with an emergency medical condition to be evacuated to Lord Howe Island. The captain, Commander Richard Farrington, had been ashore having dinner with the island's marine services manager thanking him for the assistance rendered to his crewman. Farrington had just returned and at the time of the incident the Executive Officer (XO), Lt Commander John Lea, was in-charge of the vessel. Nottingham ran aground on Wolf Rock owing to a navigational error and the vessel immediately went into damage control mode. Commander Farrington returned to the bridge whereby he took command and controlled the breached compartments. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) salvage department (SALMO) was contacted and assisted with logistics through local marine expert Graeme Mackenzie. The SALMO team, assisted by Nottingham's crew, stabilized her at sea making her ready for the journey into Newcastle.