Tag Archives: warship

Two Carriers Not Going Anywhere

Leave a Reply

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.

HMS Warrior

Leave a Reply

I think HMS Warrior has shown up in the blog before.  During our trip to Portsmouth last year, I got a different perspective on it from previous visits because I went up the Spinnaker Tower.  I did also take a look from ground level too, though.  There were some people up in the rigging working on the ship.  I don’t have a great time with heights so that would not be a good thing for me I suspect.  An open door of a plane is fine but that is different.

The view from above is a great way to see the ship (or anything for that matter).  It also gives you the background of the historic royal dockyard.  Having a 60,000 ton aircraft carrier as a backdrop just goes to show how things have changed over the years.  At one point, this would have been the pinnacle of warship design but now it is considered archaic.  How things move on.

HMS Severn

Leave a Reply

The Royal Navy has a bunch of coastal patrol vessels that are named after rivers around the UK.  From what I have read, HMS Severn is one of the first batch of vessels and it is less capable than the later batch.  Although originally planned for retirement, it has been kept in service patrolling the UK coastal region.  It was heading out of Portsmouth when I saw it.  I think it was originally painted grey when it was commissioned but it currently has more of a camo scheme applied.  It made me think of the disruptive camouflage used during the First World War.  I actually shot a pano of it as it headed out taking advantage of the lack of an immediate background to avoid any issues with the movement between shots.

A Broken Aircraft Carrier

Leave a Reply

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.

Pacific Fleet Home At Esquimalt

Leave a Reply

Across the water from Fort Rodd Hill is the Canadian naval base of Esquimalt.  This is the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet for the navy.  From where we were, you could see some of the ships in the harbor.  There were a few small patrol boats that were in use but the larger ships were tied up.

HMS Warrior

Leave a Reply

Continuing a theme from some recent posts with preserved Royal Navy ships, I add another part of the Portsmouth historic dockyard.  HMS Warrior was the world’s first iron hulled warship.  See served a reasonable career as a warship but, as was the case in those days, technology moved on fast and she was gradually relegated to lesser duties.  Eventually she became a hulk for storage and then a floating oil jetty.  Restoration was undertaken in Hartlepool in the 80s and she was opened to the public in Portsmouth in 1987.

I have not ever visited her.  I moved away from the area around the time she arrived and, while I have been back there more recently, I didn’t include her as part of the visit.  I have photographed her from a distance though.  Writing this has made me think that I need to visit at some point.  With Victory and Mary Rose in the same area, you might get a bit “shipped out” but I shall have to give it a go some time.

Old Victory Shot

Leave a Reply

I was searching through my archive looking for some ship shots and the keyword search threw up a few extras that were separate from what I was after.  It included some shots of HMS Victory.  Victory is one of the most famous warships in the UK.  She was the flagship of Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar and he died on her deck as the battle was won.  She survived after her main career was over and sat afloat at Portsmouth for many years before being restored and put on display in a dry dock in the navy base.

I have been on board a few times over the years.  I have some old photos from the film days that I took and also some aerial shots of her and thought I might share them here.  I understand that she has recently undergone a further restoration.  The hull had been sagging around the supports underneath and so she has been repaired and the support system modified.  It is also now possible to go under the hull as part of the visit.  This is something I would like to try when I next have time during a visit to the UK.

Royal Navy Warships at Portsmouth

Leave a Reply

My aerial photo searches brought me to some shots of the Royal Navy’s dockyard at Portsmouth.  One or two shots from this were used in a post about a flight I took with Pete but not very many.  Flying over the home of the Royal Navy, we got to see a bunch of ships – large and small.  HMS Bristol was moored for use as a training ship.  I think she may have now been relieved of that duty so don’t know whether she is still around and for how long.

Plenty of frigates were moored alongside and there were surplus Type 42 destroyers at various locations too.  This got me thinking about a day many years ago when we were in Portsmouth for some reason.  We took a trip around the harbour in a sightseeing boat and I got a few shots of some ships then too so these are interspersed here.  Now the arrival of the two carriers to the fleet would mean a good chance of getting a far larger vessel alongside.  Might have to think about doing something like this again at some point when I am in the UK.

Aircraft carrier

Leave a Reply

I was flicking through some old shots that weren’t well keyworded and was surprised to find some shots from a San Diego visit which included some warships.  I had some shots of an aircraft carrier including a few for a panorama that I had never compiled.  Why not correct that?  Here it is, the USS Ronal Reagan.