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U.K. warship hitches a ride
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Crippled British warship HMS Nottingham has been loaded onto a heavy-lifting ship in preparation for being piggy-backed back to Britain. The loading process began in Sydney Harbor early Tuesday morning and took about six hours to complete. The Royal Navy Type 42 Destroyer nearly sank after it hit well-charted but submerged rocks off the coast of remote Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea off the coast of Australia more than three months ago. Nottingham was first towed backwards to the nearest Australian port, Newcastle, 200 kilometers to the north of Sydney. It was then towed to the deeper waters of Sydney Harbor on October 15 to allow the loading process to begin. The lift shift, the Swan, is semi-submersible, taking in water to allow it to sink a lifting cradle below the surface of the harbor. Tugs guided the Nottingham into position over the middle section of the Swan's deck. Swan then pumped out the water and raised the deck up under the warship. The Royal Navy will spend about another five days securing Nottingham to Swan before the long journey home begins. The ship is expected to arrive back in Britain by mid-December. Nottingham is believed to be the first ship to have run aground on the Lord Howe reef in about 200 years and a full inquiry into the incident is underway. The Royal Navy has said Nottingham is repairable.
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