Tag Archives: HMS Prince of Wales

Two Carriers Not Going Anywhere

I’m not sure when this post will go live but, on the day I am writing it, the HMS Prince of Wales and its carrier strike group has sailed from Portsmouth for an eight-month deployment. A few weeks ago, we took a trip to the Isle of Wight and, as the ferry came through Portsmouth Harbour, I could see both carriers were tied up in the naval base. They were bow to bow alongside. Neither was showing much sign of going anywhere. However, as I now know, one of them was in the final stages of preparation for the deployment. I hope they have a successful mission.

A Broken Aircraft Carrier

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The Royal Navy has recently commissioned two new aircraft carriers. At 60,000 tons, they are the largest ships the Navy has ever had. The first is HMS Queen Elizabeth and the second is HMS Prince of Wales. The Prince of Wales was due to undertake its first major exercise off the east coast of the US but, shortly after departing Portsmouth, it experienced some technical issues. I don’t know whether there is official confirmation of what happened but there is a suggestion that one of the screws contacted the seabed.

Whatever the issue, she had to return to port and the Queen Elizabeth was substituted for the exercise. There has been discussion that the ship will need to go to Rosyth for dry docking but, as of our visit, it was still alongside at Portsmouth. I was able to get some good shots of it from Spinnaker Tower as well as some from the ferry as we headed to the Isle of Wight. I hope they can fix whatever the issues are rapidly.