Collins said she was appalled to see online trolling from "armchair admirals, people who will never have to make decisions which mean life or death for their subordinates". She ad

New Zealand's Defence Minister on Thursday publicly criticised online trolling of the female captain of a naval vessel that sunk at the weekend, saying while the cause of the incident was unknown, it had nothing to do with the captain’s gender.

Judith Collins said a "deeply concerning, misogynistic narrative" had been directed at Commander Gray and told one of her critics, a male truck driver from Melbourne, to stick to commenting about "driving trucks rather than driving ships".

The sinking of a Royal New Zealand Navy ship in the South Pacific had nothing to do with the fact that the British-born captain is a woman, the country’s defence minister said, criticising “armchair admirals” who are speculating on the causes of the disaster.

New Zealand's defence minister has condemned online abuse towards the female captain of a navy ship that sank at the weekend.

The New Zealand defence minister says the impact of the HMNZS Manawanui, sunk in Samoa, is "tracking as well as we could hope for at this point."