…Researched and contributed by Jack Sylva.
HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s most expensive warship to date, will remain in port for a full year as it undergoes £25 million worth of repairs following its breakdown last August.
The ship, which broke down en route to America, is being repaired at a shipyard in Rosyth, Scotland, and had been previously scheduled to be operational by this spring.
However, after discovering that both driveshafts were misaligned during the propeller repair process, the Ministry of Defence announced that the repairs and upgrades to the ship will not be completed until the autumn.
Ministers have confirmed that they will attempt to recover the costs of the repairs from Thales, a French-owned firm responsible for the propulsion system, and Kongsberg, the Norwegian builder of the parts.
Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, John Healey, expressed his concerns about the impact of the repairs on the UK’s commitments to NATO and the country’s allies.
The 33-ton starboard propeller malfunctioned last August, leading to the ship’s breakdown, which resulted in a coupling holding the propeller in place breaking.
Inspections by engineers and divers revealed the issue, and the ship was taken back to Portsmouth for further examination before it was transported to Rosyth for repairs in dry dock.
Its journey to Scotland with a tug alone cost £246,000.
HMS Prince of Wales, a sister ship to Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, has spent more time tied up in port than at sea since being commissioned in 2019.
The latest mishap is not the first to strike the ship, as an investigation was launched in 2020 after a pipe caused a minor flood while the carrier was docked in Portsmouth.
The repairs and upgrades, which will prepare HMS Prince of Wales to become the UK’s Very High Readiness Strike Carrier in 2024, are expected to be completed in the autumn.
However, the delays in the ship’s repairs have raised concerns about the impact on the Royal Navy’s ability to meet its commitments to NATO and its allies.