HMS Prince of Wales canceled her voyage to North America last Saturday after a few nautical miles due to a technical fault with the starboard propeller shaft. According to various British media outlets, the ship is to be put on dry land in Rosyth to resolve the issues. This brought an early end to Westries, the youngest British carrier.
HMS Prince of Wales in archive image. Along with Queen Elizabeth, the ship belongs to the Queen Elizabeth class. (Photo: Royal Navy)
According to Naval Search And this BBC The clutch connecting the outer propeller shaft to the drive shaft was found to be broken.
Admiral Ben Key, Commander of the British Navy, addressed the issues in an interview with British radio LPC “Unexpectedly”. “This is unprecedented. None of us can remember such an event happening in the past.” According to Key, this appears to be a flaw caused by randomness.
The ship has been stuck with technical problems for a few days now
However, the generally well-known website Navy Lookout writes that sources suggest that HMS Prince of Wales had previously experienced significant problems with its starboard side propulsion. A ship with a known engine defect needs special permission to start a Saturday voyage. There was a lot of pressure on the departure because the trip had already been postponed by a day.
The ship departed 24 hours later with employees from GE Power Conversion, the manufacturer of the ship’s technical installations. They were confident that the problem with the starboard engine could be solved en route.
The reports are unconfirmed and it is not known if this earlier failure had anything to do with the clutch problem, but Naval Lookout said the Prince of Wales is believed to have only traveled on the port propeller shaft when leaving port. According to Navy Lookout, rumors that the propellers hit the seabed during takeoff are false. The story suggested by the British tabloids that people forgot to lubricate the propeller shaft was also nonsense.
into dry dock
HMS Prince of Wales anchored off the coast of Portsmouth on Friday afternoon. The aircraft carrier is scheduled to return to Portsmouth over the next few days and make a temporary fix for the failed shaft. A damaged axle will be protected, preventing further damage during transit. This is the Scottish town where the Wharf was built by the Prince of Wales.
That also meant the Prince of Wales would not be coming to the Netherlands for repairs. There were unconfirmed reports earlier this week that it was considering sending the carrier to Amsterdam due to the distance. However, if the ship had arrived in the Netherlands, it would have only fit in Damon Verolm’s dry dock in Rotterdam. However, according to Navy Lookout, Rosyth’s dry-docking has always been the most logical option as one of the ship’s builders, Babcock International, has contracted with the yard to keep the dry-docking facility ready for unscheduled maintenance at any time. . Also, there are already experienced staff on board. And no rush.
Repairs are expected to take a long time. That’s why other care comes forward. For example, it may be decided to carry out a five-year hull inspection now instead of next year.
A spokesperson of the Royal Navy said this Isle of Wight County Press Aware that the repair process will become ‘complex’: “We are mapping options based on current priorities and future commitments, and will provide updates.”
HMS Queen Elizabeth undertakes area missions
There is no need to draw plans with F-35B fighters. Sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth will take over some of Prince of Wales’ duties. However, Queen Elizabeth has a plan of her own, so it has to be canceled and postponed on schedule.
HMS Queen Elizabeth was due to embark on a four-month cruise to the Baltic and Mediterranean. Instead, a visit to New York on September 28 and 29 during the Transatlantic Futures Forum is noteworthy. Queen Elizabeth will probably be escorted by the Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond and the Type 23 frigate HMS Kent. The Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond and the tanker RFA Tideforce were already scheduled to accompany them to the US, and the schedule is unlikely to change.
“Web specialist. Pop culture buff. Thinker. Foodaholic. Travel maven. Avid coffee junkie. Amateur tv advocate.”