HMS Prince of Wales, which broke down off the Isle of Wight last August, has finally left dry dock and is en route back to Portsmouth.
As previously reported by Island Echo, the £3billion aircraft carrier suffered a broken propeller shaft whilst en route to the United States.
It was assisted back to the sheltered waters of The Solent by tugs, where divers inspected the damage below the waterline. It was thought that the main issue with the warship was that the 33-tonne starboard propeller – the same weight as 30 Ford Fiesta cars – had malfunctioned.
The mega ship was towed to Rosyth in Scotland, where she has been undergoing £25million of repairs for the past 9 months. At the same time, a number of upgrades have been carried out.
Now, the ship is out of dry dock with propulsion sea trials taking place. Once these trials are complete and the flight deck is brought back into operational use, HMS Prince of Wales will be making its way back to Portsmouth – complete with a 750-strong crew.
Within the next 2 years, the carrier will become the flagship of the Royal Navy and will be deployed on global operations. F-35s, V-22 Ospreys and Merlin helicopters will all take off from its flight deck.
HMS Prince of Wales is set to be deployed to the United States this Autumn.
Let us all hope that it is not the same designer as our floating bridge as, if so, this won’t be the end, just the beginning.
Wish the crew the best of British luck and hope it’s not used as a giant taxi for the illegal flotsam continuously drifting our way.
It would make for a perfect Ferry across the Island to Pompey.
They could charge less than Wightlink due to the amount of vehicles that
could go over on each crossing.
It would make for a perfect Ferry across the Island to Pompey.
They could charge less than Wightlink due to the amount of vehicles that
could go over on each crossing
My dad was on the old Prince of Wales in the war out in the Far East – he was below decks sending out the SOS’s etc. He made it home otherwise I wouldn’t be here now:)