NAVY NUMPTY

Lieutenant narrowly avoids jail for failing to spot 12,000-ton tanker

A NAVY warship came within a “hair’s breadth of disaster” when it nearly crashed into an oil tanker after the officer in charge failed to spot it.

Lieutenant Euan Playford-Johnston left an untrained colleague on HMS Penzance to navigate so he could concentrate on other work while in a busy shipping lane at night.

The minesweeper nearly collided with a 472ft, 12,000ton ship in the Firth of Clyde after turning into its path, a court martial was told.

The captain of the tanker saw the warship and took action to avoid a collision.

Playford-Johnston, 30, had been “fatigued” after a long day and decided to carry out other work, leaving the junior officer in charge of navigation.

He later tried to cover up his actions by not reporting it to the ship’s captain, a serious breach of Royal Navy rules.