Royal Navy warships crashed into each other ‘due to faulty rewiring’

Wiring error meant HMS Chiddingfold went backwards when set to go forward and hit HMS Bangor in Bahrain, say sources

Two Royal Navy warships crashed into each other in Bahrain at the end of last week because one was incorrectly rewired, meaning that it unexpectedly went into reverse when it was set to go forward, military sources said.

The minehunter HMS Chiddingfold went backwards into HMS Bangor, which was lying at port, ripping open a hole into a cabin above the waterline, in an embarrassing blunder that the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, insisted did not reflect incompetence.