Posted on 03/14/2017 9:06:42 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
When HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s largest warship, enters Portsmouth harbour later this year, millions of pounds and man hours will have been spent ensuring absolutely nothing has been left to chance. From dredging a channel deep enough to allow the first of the Royal Navy’s 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers to enter port, to planning emergency drills for crew on board, or maintaining sophisticated technology – everything will have been meticulously planned.
By summer, a team from Her Majesty’s Naval Base, Portsmouth and BAE Systems working in support of the naval base commander – will have spent a year practising and fine-tuning drills and procedures. Engineers, logistical experts and waterfront staff will be ready. “We’ve had aircraft carriers in Portsmouth for years, but not of this mass and size,” says Chris Alcock OBE, QEC support projects manager at BAE Systems. These carriers are the largest and most complex ships ever built in the UK. “The limited time they’ll spend alongside for maintenance – 15 weeks a year – is precious; we can’t waste a moment,” he says.
Not only will the team help guide the vast ship in for the first time – tug boats and harbour masters have been practising with simulators, while huge navigation markers have been set alongside the newly dredged channel – but the naval base needs to keep the aircraft carriers operational for the next 50 years.
Portsmouth will be their home when they are not on manoeuvres, and some 70,000sq m – approximately 10 football pitches – has been refurbished and given over to a support centre, housing storage for medical, food, post and naval stores.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Pushing the boat out: bringing the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier safely into Portsmouth harbour has taken months of planning and preparation
High-maintenance: the complex aircraft carriers will spend 15 weeks a year in Portsmouth harbour in order to be kept in optimum condition
2 islands on those ships. 1 for ship’s navigation, the other solely for flight operations.
CC
And less than half the planes of an American aircraft carrier.
No comparison photos of HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar????
Both HMS Victory and HMS Warrior are in the first picture - albeit at such low resolution, you’d have to know where to look.
The two islands, one for flight, one for operating the ship. Because those two things have nothing to do with each other. British engineering at its finest since sports car electronics.
You referring to Lucas “the prince of darkness”?
CC
They should invite the Argentine ambassador to the christening.
Those docks look large enough to host US supercarriers now. They’ve never been able to dock before in the UK because of the lack of facilities, maybe this will change now.
I wish they would stop pretending that these two ships are aircraft carriers. They have no aircraft and no clear idea when they might get any. I guess we could use them as glorified helicopter carrier.
Isn’t this the aircraft carrier that doesn’t actually have any aircraft?
Since you brought up Lucas Electrics...
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~mtmorris/index3.html
http://www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html
BWAAA HAAA HAA HA
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
They’re already making arrangements for US Marine F-35B’s to operate from ‘Elizabeth’ because of various problems associated with the UK purchasing theirs. So one way or the other, the RN will have aircraft on their carrier. I’d be more worried about all their destroyers being laid up for lack of manpower and engineering problems. Doesn’t make much sense to sent a Carrier out without it’s escort screen.
Oh, I don’t know. I went to Portsmouth aboard the USS JFK back in 1976, and I am pretty sure we docked there. I don’t recall taking liberty launches...
LOL, I had British Sports Car Disease...
Take out a 2nd mortgage if you wanted to buy a Lucas OEM replacement rocker switch for your headlights! (that wouldn’t work, of course!)
OMG, the fuse replacement diagram!
So is the after island where they con the ship (even though they can't see the bow) or where they manage flight ops (even though they can't see the bow)?
My first car was an MG Midget, I learned everything about how to fix cars on that car.
My nephews also told me they learned everything about cussing by watching me work on that car! (not joking)
Sigh. I love good looking warships. I apologize for insulting our British cousins, but...that vessel looks like a matronly woman with an oversize skirt. It looks like a cow.
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