With the return of HMS Dragon to Portsmouth last week, at the time of writing, all six of the Type 45 destroyers are alongside or in dock. Depending on who you listen to, this is either an embarrassing disaster or entirely routine and no cause for concern. Here we look at the current situation and the complicated back story.
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During the last few weeks, the final preparations for the UK Carrier Strike deployment have been completed and the ships sailed on 1st May. This photo essay covers the various elements of the group and their departure.
(UPDATED) HMS Queen Elizabeth will leave Portsmouth for another period of training next week but it was announced on 23rd April that her departure will be delayed by a few days while the entire ship’s company is tested for COVID-19. At a time when aircraft carriers in other navies have experienced widespread infection amongst their crews, we look at the rationale for sailing and the measures taken by the RN to mitigate risks to its personnel.
The delivery of the RN’s second aircraft carrier has deservedly been celebrated as a great success for British industry but behind the scenes, in the naval bases and shipyards, all is not well. 2019 has seen a number of important maintenance projects stalled or delayed. Here we summarise the situation.More
This week HMS Queen Elizabeth returned home from the Westlant 19 deployment to the US. She joined her sister HMS Prince of Wales alongside in Portsmouth together for the first time. Here we look at the new facilities that will support both aircraft carriers.
On 16th November the second of the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, HMS Prince of Wales entered her home port for the first time. We witnessed the ship’s arrival and went on board to find out more about her progress and future programme.
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Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace made his first appearance before the House of Commons Defence Select Committee on Wednesday 23rd October. In a generally impressive and honest performance, he answered a wide range of questions, mainly about naval matters.
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Although expected to spend another week in the South Coast Exercise Areas on sea training and helicopter trials, HMS Queen Elizabeth unexpectedly returned home to Portsmouth this evening.
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The two Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers will require dry-docking periodically throughout their lives. The dry docks at Portsmouth and Devonport naval bases are not large enough to accommodate them so the RN must choose between a very limited selection of other UK facilities. Here we examine some of the options.
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