Posted on 06/17/2018 1:05:50 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Britain's six Type 45 destroyers, described as the backbone of the Royal Navy, spent 80 per cent of last year in dock.
The ships, costing £1billion each, need a multi-million pound refit after repeatedly breaking down in the Persian Gulf. But the work is not due to start until 2020.
Two of the cutting-edge warships, HMS Dauntless and HMS Defender, did not go to sea at all during 2017 – which had been hailed by officials and ministers as 'the year of the Navy'.
All six warships, which entered service from 2008, were made with an engine system which cuts out in warm seas, leaving sailors stranded for hours in total darkness.
Britain's six Type 45 destroyers, described as the backbone of the Royal Navy, spent 80 per cent of last year in dock
This led to fears that these key vessels – designed to shield the rest of the fleet from air or missile attacks – had become 'sitting ducks'.
HMS Dragon spent 309 days in Portsmouth last year, followed by HMS Daring with 232 days and HMS Diamond with 203.
HMS Duncan spent the most time at sea, but was still in dock for 197 days.
From January to March this year, HMS Daring, HMS Dauntless and HMS Defender have not left port.
Shockingly, engine-makers Rolls-Royce claim the Ministry of Defence did not tell them the 8,000-ton vessels would spend long periods in warm waters so they were not designed to operate in the heat.
Insiders say a shortage of manpower, Christmas leave for sailors and routine maintenance had also been factors that kept the ships at Portsmouth.
Lord West, former head of the Navy, said: 'It is a disgrace that work on these ships has not been done as a matter of urgency.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The answer here is obvious. You should only have enemies who reside in cold weather climates...like Norway, Iceland, or Canada.
Yeah, the Brits screwed up the ‘advanced next generation’ powerplants. Otherwise they’re actually pretty good ships from all reports.
Fortunately, the ships were designed with the ability to accept the well proven American LM2500 power packs that most of our Navy uses and some of theirs does as an alternate powerplant. Eventually they’re probably going to have to give up on the Rolls Royce powerplant if they want these ships to work.
Nah, its the classic Brit problem - overreaching on their designs and then giving lame excuses when the obvious shortcomings that should have been engineered out are brought to light.
How can one tell if your British car is out of oil ?
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It stops leaking in the parking spot.
Good idea. Canada’s been cruisin for a bruisin.
I always thought that if it was, then Lucas made it.
GG, Royal Navy, GG. =.=
LOL!!! Yes that is one of many on the list. Backwards threads on the rear of the crankshaft and an Oil Slinger Plate just aren’t the same as a Rear Crank Seal.
Even Rolls Royce up till 1980 had the Oil Slinger/backwards thread on the Rear Crank Shaft. After that they put a real seal there.
IIRC the Spitfire 1500 they placed the Fuel Pump directly above the Distributor. More than one burned to the ground due to the Fuel Pump going bad and leaking on the Distributor sparking with gas dripping on it.
Right up there with V-12 Jaguars with leaking Fuel Injector lines spraying on the Distributor in the center of the valley. Can you say Flash Fire Kitty ?
Don’t kick the baby
My favorite is
and
My MGB!!!
Left on the side of the road by the best of the worst!
To be fair, that source of Jag V12 fire was caused by owner stupidity. The manual instructs the owner to have the fuel injection hoses replaced every five years due to the heat of the V12. Most owners didn’t read the manual and the resulting fire was blamed on poor engineering. Strangely, if you replace the hoses like the manual says, you don’t get a center-vee fire... That’s a “didn’t RTFM” issue, not an engineering issue, IMHO.
The Jag V12s were far from the only engines that did that. Even the Nissan 300ZX had issues with that in the 80s.
I witnessed one of those Jags catch fire on a limo ride to Kennedy Airport after the(92 I think) PC-Expo show with the Stacker girls.
The account has come to be known as the “Dragon Barf Story”
Good to know there is a more plausible explanation now.
7
I guess the good point of this situation is that when the Muslims formally take over Great Britain, the Navy they inherit will be useless.
Something is really wrong at Rolls Royce. Their aircraft jet engines have been plagued by problems for a while now, and now this.
In RRs defense, they built the engine to the spec the Royal Navy asked for. When all else fails, read the contract.
Similar to Short Brothers limiting the wingspan of the Stirling to what the RAF specified. Sure, they underperformed... but they were to spec and thus would fit inside some obsolete hangars.
"Right, then!"
Well, so much for maneuver. At least they can't run into anything....
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