Tributes paid to Royal Navy's '˜rising star' killed in crash

Fareham-based sailor Lieutenant Christopher Hemming, 28, was killed in a crash on the A38 near Newton Abbot in Devon.

The submariner, who was based at HMS Collingwood, is thought to have been travelling home from Plymouth.

His death, which is being investigating by police, shocked his colleagues.

Commander Roger Noyce, Lt Hemming’s commanding officer, has since paid tribute to the young officer.

He said: ‘Chris’s colleagues were devastated with the desperately sad news of his death.

‘His professionalism, quick wit and infectious enthusiasm meant that he easily hit it off with the rest of his team.

‘He brought with him an enviable reputation as a highly-skilled warfare officer and such was his keenness to build experience and contribute to naval operations, he had already volunteered to deploy back to the Middle East at short notice.

‘Chris will not only be missed by his friends and colleagues here, but also by the warfare branch as a whole, who has lost a rising star.’

Lt Hemming joined the navy in September 2010 and served as a submarine sonar operator, before being selected for promotion to an officer, training at the Britannia Royal Naval College. Dartmouth in 2014.

He served as a warfare officer on a number of ships and latterly became a specialist in information warfare, having recently joined the Maritime Information Exploitation Group.

A spokesman from Devon and Cornwall Police said Lt Hemming’s car, a black Mercedes A180, had hit a parked lorry shortly before 2.50am on Friday, May 12.

He was found unconscious at the scene and declared dead a short while later.