SYDNEY -- Sailors from a hi-tech British warship holed when it hit rocks off an Australian resort island were being flown to Sydney on Wednesday as preparations continued to tow the damaged ship to a port for repairs.

About 140 crew members from the $450 million hms Nottingham were being flown by an Australian Air Force transport plane from Lord Howe Island in the Tasman sea to an air base on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia's largest city.

HMS Nottingham, a state-of-the-art type 42 destroyer, almost sank after it hit well-charted rocks off Lord Howe Island, 780km (485 miles) northeast of Sydney, in stormy weather on July 7. He Hull was pierced and five forward compartments flooded, Reuters reported.

The ship's commanding officer, Commander Richard Farrington, faces a possible court-martial over the grounding, which is being investigated by a three-man Royal Navy Board of Inquiry.

The crew members will spend several days in Australia before they fly home to Britain, a Royal Navy spokesman said.

Work to make the ship safe to be towed to a port on the Australian mainland was continuing, with sydney or nearby Newcastle the most likely destinations.

The ship will be towed backwards -- regarded by sailors as an ignominious way to reach port -- by the New Zealand tug pacific chieftain with Australia's Austral Salvor attached to the bow, the Royal Navy said.

"The Austral Salvor will be attached to the front end of the ship and will effectively act as the rudder," said Royal Navy Lieutenant-Commander Mike Souter.

Travelling slowly at about four knots it would take between four and five days to make the trip of 400-500 nautical miles to the Australian Mainland from its current anchorage, about 100 meters (110 yards) off Lord Howe Island.

Deliveries of steel and other salvage equipment are to be made to the island over the next two days.

"We expect it to be here until at least the end of the month and possibly the start of august," Souter said.

"That is weather dependant of course, because they won't start the tow across the Tasman Sea until such time as they're entirely happy there is a weather window," he said.

Between 60 and 70 members of the ship's 249 crew will remain on the ship working on the damage before they fly home.

Between 35 and 40 crew will stay on board for the tow, Souter said.