The captain of the ship at the centre of the Iranian hostage debacle last year has been removed from his post, the Minstry of Defence said today.

Commander Jeremy Woods was in charge of the frigate HMS Cornwall when 15 sailors and Royal Marines were seized by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf last March.

They were detained at gunpoint and held for 13 days after Tehran claimed they had strayed into Iranian waters. A parliamentary inquiry in December called the episode a “national embarrassment” and said formal action has been taken against a number of service personnel.

The MoD said Commander Woods would keep his rank but has been moved “to a post where his talents and experience can be used to best effect". A spokesman said: “We can confirm that Commander Jeremy Woods, Commanding Officer of HMS Cornwall, has been removed from command. This is an internal administrative matter between the individual and his senior officers and we will not give further details of the removal."

The 15 sailors and marines comprised a boarding party which was checking a merchant vessel for contraband and weapons. They gave themselves up to a heavily-armed Revolutionary Guard detachment in what the British government claimed were Iraqi waters.

Commander Woods was criticised over the capture because HMS Cornwall's Lynx helicopter had been recalled, and so could not provide protection to the boarding party.

The hostage crisis began as a tense stand-off between London and Tehran but degenerated into farce after the released captives were allowed to sell their stories to the tabloids.

Revelations that the youngest captive, Arthur Batchelor, "cried like a baby" after his Iranian captors confiscated his iPod and nicknamed him "Mr Bean" did huge damage to the Navy's reputation.

Earlier, the hostages had been paraded on Iranian television to admit their guilt, before being released dressed in matching 1970s-style grey suits by a smiling President Ahmedinejad.

The report by the Commons Defence Committee said that there had been "weaknesses in intelligence, in communications, in doctrine and in training" throughout the episode.

HMS Cornwall is currently undergoing sea training and is expected to return to base in Plymouth on Thursday.

Commander Woods took charge of the frigate in November 2006, his second command after the minehunter HMS Bangor. He has been in the Navy for 23 years and served in the first Gulf War and in Bosnia.

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