Defence Secretary Roasted Over ‘Humiliating’ Crash Of 2 Royal Navy Warships

Defence secretary Grant Shapps was put in the hot seat on Sunday when he was questioned over the two Royal Navy warships which recently crashed into each other.

The two warships were there as part of the UK’s ongoing presence in the Gulf when they collided off the coast of Bahrain on Saturday.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed no one was injured in the crash.

Clips of the moment the two vessels hit one another have been making the rounds on social media.

Speaking to Shapps on Sunday morning, Sky News’ Trevor Phillips said: “In the Middle East, we have three mine hunters – and two of them collided in the last few days.

“One backed into the other, thinking it was going forward, but somebody wired the engine up in the wrong way, and instead of going forward it went into reverse.

“So now, instead of having three mine hunters, we’ve only got… one.

“It’s pretty humiliating, isn’t it?”

Shapps deflected by saying just as with “all walks of life, accidents happen”.

“This was incompetence,” Phillips said.

“You may know more about it than I do,” the defence secretary said. “I’ve spoken to the First Sea Lord [Admiral Sir Ben Key] who is in charge of the Navy, and he has assured me there is an investigation under way.

“And as with all these things, we don’t say it is incompetence when we see an aircraft come down – a very rare occasion – just as this would be a rare occasion.”