PROWED DAY
First steel cut as work starts on final offshore patrol class vessel
A LASER beam yesterday cut the first steel of a £140million warship, which is helping secure thousands of jobs on the Clyde.
HMS Spey – the fifth and final River Class Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Royal Navy – is being built at BAE Systems’ Govan and Scotstoun yards.
About 800 shipbuilders are employed by BAE on the project, while more than 100 other firms are involved in the supply chain.
When complete, HMS Spey, with a range of 5000 nautical miles and top speed of 24 knots, will be one of the most sophisticated warships in the world.
It has the capacity to carry the latest Merlin helicopters and troops of Royal Marines, as well as humanitarian aid containers.
The 295ft vessel’s 30mm smallcalibre cannon can fire short-range missiles, rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns or explosives, while 25mm guns mounted port and starboard provide secondary armament.
Radars can detect low flying aircraft often used in smuggling operations, while rigid inflatable boat can be deployed for recovery and rescue operations.
Iain Stevenson, managing director of BAE Systems Naval Ships, said: “It is special occasions such as the steel cut of Spey today that help us reflect on the importance of what we do, delivering the ships that will protect our nation’s interests.
“We are investing in the latest digital design technologies and new processes which enable us to deliver the quality ships and help to secure the long-term future of our highly skilled industry in the UK.
“We now have five OPVs in construction at our shipyards in Glasgow and I look forward to seeing the first of class Type 26 Global Combat Ship start to take shape in the summer of this year.”
Tony Douglas, chief executive of Defence Equipment and Support – an arm’s-length body of the Ministry of Defence – pressed the button to begin the cutting process on HMS Spey yesterday.
He said: “The team at Defence Equipment and Support have driven the successful delivery of the OPV programme. Today’s steel cut is a proud moment not only for us, but for the Royal Navy and our industry partners too.”
HMS Spey is one of two ships being built under a £287million agreement signed between the MoD and BAE Systems in December 2016. She is expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2019 and enter service in 2021. The ship follows in the footsteps of sister ships HMS Forth, HMS Medway, HMS Trent and HMS Tamar.
Many of the skills being learned by shipbuilders – including hundreds of apprentices – will then be transferred to working on the fleet of nextgeneration Type 26 Frigates, which will begin construction in the summer.
Apprentice fabricator Dale Mullen, 22, from Port Glasgow, was there to see the first steel cut for HMS Spey yesterday.
He said: “This is an incredible project to be working on.
Rhys Barlow, 21, of Kilwinning, Ayrshire, added: “It is a brilliant apprenticeship because you are learning loads of new skills.”
I look forward to the Type 26 Global Combat Ship taking shape this IAIN STEVENSON