Into The Deep
We challenge the captains of Britain’s latest aircraft carriers to drive the new Discovery across Scotland using only maps and clues
The captains of Britain’s newest aircraft carriers drive the new Disco across Scotland using only maps
In August the nation’s new aircraft carrier and flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived for the first time at its home base in Portsmouth, under the command of Captain Jerry Kyd.
The 65,000 tonne ship’s move came after weeks of trials in the North Sea and months of training by the crew and Captain – for this is the biggest ship ever built for the Royal Navy, and was completely untried.
The ship will be tested at a later date, but we wanted to see how the captains of HMS Queen Elizabeth and its sister ship HMS Prince of Wales, currently being built in Rosyth in Scotland, would fare road-testing the latest Land Rover Discovery.
The new Discovery had been launched to international journalists on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth in December, with her Captain explaining how complex his new command is and what a skilled job it is to drive it. There is no doubt about that, but could he and his fellow Captain drive a Discovery acting on our orders?
We challenged Captain Kyd of HMS Queen Elizabeth and Captain Ian Groom of HMS Prince of Wales to drive the new Discovery across Scotland using only maps, clues and no Sat Nav. “That’s easy, bring it on!” said Kyd.
Jerry was quick to point out that while Land Rover’s lineage and history stretches back an impressive 60-odd years to the Second World War, this is merely a blink of the eye compared to the history of the Royal Navy, which can trace its roots back 1000 years.
“Throughout that time, our Navy has strived to be at the cutting edge of fighting machines. Today, the Royal Navy’s new behemoths, the two aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, second only in power and punch to the US super-carriers, are the latest iteration of a century of British aircraft carrier design development,” said Jerry.
He added: “Many countries have followed and mimicked the British-driven evolution of the aircraft carrier from its humble beginnings in the early part of the last century to the latest ships such as Queen Elizabeth. In both cars and carriers, the British have led the way, seeking innovation and cutting edge technology to make the product the best it can be. It was the British who introduced radical new features, such as the angled flight deck that allowed pilots landing their jets to have better vision or the catapult that could launch increasingly heavier naval fighter planes into the skies. These design features were quickly emulated by other countries, not least the USA and France.
“It has been the same with Land Rover and the rise of tough four-wheel drive vehicles that are so ubiquitous in every garage and car park. For JLR, the task is to sell cars that are world class and attractive to buyers; for the Royal Navy it is about having the fighting edge to defeat the enemy. But their respective natural habitats could not be more different, one steams at over 25 knots (30 mph) around the world’s oceans, the other land-based but able to plug as easily across muddy fields, picking up the kids or fording rivers.
“Both clearly excel thanks to a perfect fusion of design, innovation and a deep sense of confidence in their performance and capabilities. Both car and carrier are packed with 21st century technology, which interfaces with their human operators by integrating gizmos and systems to maximise the performance. The carrier to project serious violence against an enemy across hundreds of miles of the planet or this extraordinary car to transport you safely across the toughest terrain. From the outside the lines are instantly recognisable, and both platforms have a unique appearance from the stern.”
But of course commanding a warship means that you have to think on your feet and although both captains had no doubt been trawling the internet to find out about the vehicle, they were introduced to it just a few minutes before they were due to start the challenge.
It was 3.00 pm on a blustery Monday when they received instructions to report to HMS Caledonia, the Royal Navy’s shore station at Rosyth, to get acquainted with their Discovery and receive their first set of orders for the next two days.
They had been warned to bring clothes for 48 hours including dress uniforms, which prompted a call asking where they were going. We pointed out that this was our secret mission and that they would get sealed orders at regular intervals as they completed the task.
Commander Jim Parrott from HMS Prince of Wales, who was in on the plan gave them their first set of orders on a hill above the dockyard which is where both ships have been built by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a unique partnering relationship between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the Ministry of Defence.
A national endeavour, at its peak the programme directly employed 8000 people across six build yards whilst a further 3000 people were employed across the