U.K. warship in narrow escape ahead of Olympic test

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U.K. warship in narrow escape ahead of Olympic test

Avril Ormsby, Reuters

First posted: Friday, May 04, 2012 02:19 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, May 04, 2012 02:37 PM EDT
ABOARD HMS OCEAN, GREENWICH, England - Britain’s biggest warship narrowly escaped a spot of trouble on Friday when it just scraped through a tight gap on the Thames river on its way to join a pre-Olympics exercise in London.

It was always going to be a squeeze for the 35-metre wide helicopter carrier HMS Ocean to safely sail through one of the 61-metre gaps in the moveable flood barriers which lie downstream on the Thames from the centre of the British capital.

As it approached the Thames Barrier, the wind appeared to push her sideways towards one of the 20-metre tall steel gates, passing within a hair’s breadth with the help of three tugboats.

HMS Ocean is taking part in an eight-day exercise codenamed Olympic Guardian, which will test land, sea and air operations for a safe Games this summer in what will be Britain’s biggest peacetime security operation...................http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/04/uk ... ympic-test