Posted on 03/06/2008 10:44:27 AM PST by Rikstir
Contracts for the supply of 65 million pounds worth of steel, for the construction of the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers have been announced today, Tuesday 4 March 2008, by Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Baroness Taylor.
The supply of over 80,000 tonnes of steel from Corus for the manufacture of the two ships, with an estimated value of £65 million, is the same amount required for Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 and three times that for Wembley Stadium.
he UK is procuring two new Aircraft Carriers for the Royal Navy - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince Of Wales. The carriers will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy and will deliver an increased strategic effect and influence around the world.
The ships will be delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) - an innovative alliance comprising industry participants and MOD - in which MOD acts as both client and participant. For the manufacture phase the industrial participants will be: the BAES/VT planned Joint Venture, Thales, Babcock and BAES (Surface Ships & Insyte).
Facts and Figures:
* The carrier will be similar size and weight as the ocean liner the QE2 * The CVF weighs more than 32,500 average family cars. * Diesel generators that provide electricity and propulsion to CVF weigh up to 220 tonnes apiece, producing a total power output of 108MW - the equivalent of the power needed to run a town the size of Swindon. * CVF will carry over 8,600 tonnes of fuel to support the Ship and her aircraft - enough for the average family car to travel to the moon and back twelve times. * The ships can carry more than 1,000 tonnes of food - enough to feed the crew for six weeks. * The flight deck area is nearly 13,000m2 - the equivalent of 49 tennis courts or three football pitches. * The hangar is 29,000m3 - equivalent to 12 Olympic swimming pools. * The crew will have a range of recreational activities, when not on duty, such as film shows, fitness training, weight training and gym work, available 24-hours-a-day. As is currently the case in the fleet, all personnel have access to e-mail and the Internet, subject to satellite communications equipment not being used for operational purposes. * CVF will produce over 500 tonnes of fresh water daily. * Designing and building the ships is expected to sustain and create some 10,000 jobs across the UK throughout its design and manufacture. At the peak of assembly, over a thousand personnel are expected to be engaged on CVF at each of the yards at Govan, Barrow, Rosyth and Portsmouth.
The CVF dimensions are:
* 65,000 tonnes at full displacement * 284m (931ft) length x 73m (239ft) width at flightdeck level. * 56m from keel to masthead - 6m taller than Nelson's Column. * 11m max draft (keel to waterline) * Nine decks deep + Flight Deck * 40 aircraft
This is not a lot of steel. The oil industry uses this much every week.
A pretty big ship. Not as big as a Nimitz, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it rivals one of the US Navy’s smaller diesel powered carriers, like the Kitty Hawk or America.
Need to get rid of the ski jump and install some cats for real airplanes
What does the acronym “U.S.S.” really stand for? I have never figured that out.
Ahh...United States Ship...makes sense. Thought it might be something else...
USS - United States Ship
While not supercarriers ... the two Queen Elizabeth class vessels will provide the United Kingdom with capabilities much closer to United States Navy carriers than their current Invincible class vessels. Indeed, they will be the second largest carriers in service, with a displacement of 65,000 tons possibly rising to 75,000 tons (due to refits and extra equipment fits) near end of service in the 2050 period. Giving evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee, the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West explained that interoperability with the United States Navy was as much a deciding factor of the size of the carriers as the firepower of the carrier's airwing: “
I have talked with the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) in America. He is very keen for us to get these because he sees us slotting in with his carrier groups. He really wants us to have these, but he wants us to have the same sort of clout as one of their carriers.
IMO this is a welcome sign of further integration between the Anglophone Navies.
Do any of the de Gaulle Class ships actually float?
UNITED STATES SHIP
I note the “Dalek-tower” on the artists impression. It’s using the Sampson MFR then.
You know why the new French navy uses glass bottomed boats?
...
So they can see the old French navy.
Ah, the classics keep on giving.
The F-35 isn’t a real aeroplane? (VSTOL)
;)
Harriers aren’t real planes?
Hmmm
That means that the people who fly them aren’t real pilots, either
Tell that to the Marines
The navy didn't use diesels for their carriers, everything was steam powered.
Now that I think about it, I guess technically a nuclear powered carrier could also be considered steam powered. It’s just that it uses fuel rods to run the boilers instead of fuel oil.
All U.S. carriers are steam powered. The only difference is the heat source used to generate the steam, nuclear vs. oil. Without steam the turbines wouldn't spin and the catapaults wouldn't work.
Ask any Harrier jock and he’ll tell you he rather be flying
a F/A -18.....ADR
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