Royal Navy warship HMS Sutherland almost hit fishing boat because look-out had closed the curtains, court martial is told

Lieutenant Rebecca Stanley shut a ‘blackout curtain’ so she could get on with other work during the night shift on type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland, a court martial heard.

Lt Stanley even told a surprised colleague on the ship’s bridge that if anyone asked ‘she wasn't behind the curtain’.

The court heard that as she couldn't see outside, the frigate was being operated by an officer who could not keep a visual look out and had ‘an extremely limited picture’ of where other vessels were.

As a result, the 4,000 tonne warship came within just 600 yards of a 36 metre-long Dutch fishing boat in the North Sea, which had to change direction at the last minute.

Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard that Lt Stanley, 31, had been asked to plan the pilotage for a boat transfer in Portland, Dorset that was due to take place the next day.

However, due to a delay the ship’s arrival off the south coast was pushed back by almost 24 hours.

Unaware of this, the ‘anxious’ officer decided to do her planning for the manoeuvre, which she had never done before, during her night time watch, from around 1am to 4am.

Prosecuting, Lieutenant Solomon Hartley told the court Lt Stanley's poor judgement led to a ‘near miss’ between the Devonport-based warship and the Jan Cornelis fishing vessel as they headed towards the Dover Strait.

He said: ‘She conducted the planning during her period as officer of the watch - this was not necessary or sensible. She closed a blackout curtain while conducting her task...

‘She thought she had it all under control. She didn’t have things under control and had things turned out differently she could have collided with the Jan Cornelis.’

Although she was able to view a radar screen, the court heard Lt Stanley had ‘an extremely limited picture’ of where other vessels were around her.

At one point another sailor asked her what she was doing behind the curtain. She explained she was planning for the transfer and said if anyone asked ‘she wasn’t behind the curtain’.

Lt Hartley, who is now serving in Portsmouth-based HMS Lancaster, told the hearing ‘fishing vessels’ can be extremely ‘erratic’ and for that reason greater care is required when sailing near them.

During the middle of Lt Stanley's watch she noticed the Jan Cornelis was around 1,400 yards away and reported this to her navigator before returning behind the curtain.

A short while later she noticed the ship's lights just 600 yards away and was ‘shocked’ by how close the vessel was.

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Mitigating, Commander Kay Chadwick, said Lt Stanley had told colleagues on the bridge she was ‘nipping behind the curtain to do some work’ but had not been ‘sleeping or using her phone’.

Lieutenant Stanley, who admitted a charge of ‘negligently hazarding a ship’, told the court martial: ‘It was wrong and foolish of me to put the ship in that situation… I let myself and the ship’s company down.

‘Words cannot justify how sorry I am for the damage I almost caused.’

Sentencing her, Assistant Judge Advocate Alan Large, said: ‘You shut yourself away at the back of the bridge. You shut the blackout curtain behind you and carried on with your planning.

‘The most important thing is you weren’t able to keep a visual look out - your bridge team had to prompt you about fishing vessels.’

He ordered Lt Stanley to pay a fine of £4,000 and told her she would also be severely reprimanded.

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