Prince of Wales into the dock

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is on its way from Portsmouth to Rosyth. When the ship sailed for New York last month, damage occurred to the starboard shaft. Inspection by divers revealed that the shaft coupling had failed. The quickest and safest way to repair the shaft and return the ship to service is to put the aircraft carrier into dry dock in Rosyth. There are only a few ways to accommodate a ship the size of 65,000 tonnes.

Since the aircraft carrier returned to Portsmouth Naval Base in early September, the ship's engineers have been working with divers and experienced marine engineers from Babcock, the shipyard operator in Rosyth, and the Ministry of Defence's Defence Equipment and Support Organisation to work out how to return HMS Prince of Wales to service. However, the extent and timing of the repairs will not be known until the ship is in dry dock and has been thoroughly inspected by the engineers. In the meantime, the 33 tonne starboard propeller was removed before the voyage to the Firth of Forth.

To prepare for the return to Rosyth, where the aircraft carrier was built between 2011 and 2017, the carrier's navigation team, together with the Forth pilots and tugboat captains, had trained on a simulator at South Shields Marine School at South Tyneside College on the approach to the anchorage and the journey under the three Forth bridges into the dry dock. The entry is a nautical challenge.

The ship is travelling with a full crew - 750 men and women - who will remain on board in the dock. They will continue their training for a new deployment and support the maintenance work in Rosyth. The actual autumn programme, which included missions with the F35B Lightning, the MV22 Osprey and several UAVs on the east coast of the USA, will have to be postponed until 2023.

The problem with the starboard propeller was discovered shortly after leaving Portsmouth on 27 August, when the ship was en route to the USA on a training mission. These tasks were quickly taken over by the Royal Navy's other aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Source: swz maritime / Buitendijk / Royal Navy