Engineering news
A huge section of hull for HMS Prince Of Wales, the second Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier, has begun its voyage from the naval base in Portsmouth to Rosyth Dockyard north of Edinburgh.
The journey marks a significant milestone in construction of the second carrier, which is being put together at the dockyard. HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first carrier, was formally named earlier in the summer by the Queen.
The 6,000 tonne hull section of HMS Prince of Wales, known as Lower Block 02, houses cabins, machinery spaces, stores and switchboards. It will form part of the forward section of the ship. Standing more than 20 metres high, 70 metres long and 40 metres wide, more than 8,000 pipes and 260,000 metres of cable have been installed on the block since construction started in February 2012.
In an operation lasting more than 10 hours, the aircraft carrier section was carefully loaded out of the hall in which it was constructed last week. Eight trains of transporters, which together had more than 2,000 wheels, moved the section onto a barge ahead of its five day journey around the east coast of the UK to Rosyth. On arrival, the barge will submerge to allow Lower Block 02 to be floated off and manoeuvred into dry dock.
Ahead of September's referendum on Scottish independence, the carriers have become a symbol of what engineering companies working across the UK can achieve. As well as Portsmouth and Rosyth, significant engineering work for the carriers has also taken place in Glasgow and on Merseyside. Some fear that the loss of such work from the MoD in the event of a 'yes' vote by the Scottish people could spell the end of shipbuilding for defence in Scotland.
In itself, the departure of Lower Block 02 marks the end of shipbuilding in Portsmouth. BAE announced it would cut more than 1,100 shipbuilding jobs there as well as some at other sites around the UK last year.
However, the defence giant remains a significant employer in the region, with around 3,800 people in the Solent area working in its maritime services business, as well as in the design, development and integration of combat systems and the Type 26 engineering design team.
A significant plan of investment is also underway to prepare HM Naval Base Portsmouth as the home port of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, with ship one due to make her first arrival into the city in 2017. The investment plan includes dredging the approach and main channels inside the harbour, upgrades to navigational aids and the refurbishment of several jetties, along with wider infrastructure improvements.
The aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a unique partnering relationship between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the Ministry of Defence.
The Queen Elizabeth class carriers will be the centrepiece of Britain’s military capability. Each 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier will provide the armed forces with a four acre military operating base which can be deployed worldwide. The vessels will be versatile enough to be used for operations ranging from supporting war efforts to providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.