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A Royal Navy commander has pleaded guilty to hazarding a ship after the Clyde-based nuclear submarine he was in charge of hit a merchant vessel.

Commander Justin Codd, 45, of UK Maritime Battle Staff, entered his plea at a court martial hearing at Portsmouth Naval Base.

(Image: AFP)

The charge relates to an incident in which the £1billion submarine HMS Ambush, which was on a training exercise after leaving its home port of Faslane , suffered damage to its conning tower when it was involved in the collision off the coast of Gibraltar on July 20, 2016.

Commander Codd was stripped of a year of seniority by a panel of senior officers at Portsmouth Naval Base.

The court martial heard the sub suffered £2.1million worth of damage when it was involved in the collision with the tanker MV Andreas.

The Astute-class are the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy.

The boat was involved in the collision despite being equipped with what the Royal Navy boasts are "world leading sensors".

(Image: AFP)

The 7,400 tonne Astute-class vessels, which cost more than £1billion each, carry torpedoes for targeting enemy submarines and ships and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

HMS Ambush joined the fleet at Faslane in 2013 after two years of trials.

Following the crash off Gibraltar, the Ministry of Defence released a statement saying: "We are in contact with the merchant vessel and initial indications are that it has not sustained damage.

"The submarine suffered some external damage but there is absolutely no damage to her nuclear plant and no member of the ship's company was injured in the incident.

"An immediate investigation is being conducted."