£3bn Navy debacle
UK’s flagship breaks down one day after sailing for US
THE UK’s latest £3billion aircraft carrier has suffered a ‘serious setback’ after breaking down off the Isle of Wight, Royal Navy sources admitted last night.
Damage to her starboard propeller means HMS Prince of Wales – the UK’s biggest warship – could be withdrawn from exercises off the US and may not sail again this year.
It comes as a huge blow for naval chiefs who must now decide whether to rush Britain’s other carrier to sea instead.
And it follows numerous leakages on the vessel in 2020, which damaged electrical cables. HMS Prince of Wales had been due to sail from Portsmouth on Friday. But the problem, which has not yet been confirmed, delayed her departure by a day. She set sail on Saturday amid a party atmosphere as there was a pop festival on the shoreline in Southsea at the time.
But any festive mood onboad did not last long as engineers reported the problem with the starboard propeller was ongoing on Sunday. And hopes that the 65,000-ton vessel could be patched up and continue her voyage were dashed yesterday.
Last night, a Royal Navy source said: ‘This is a serious setback. She is going to take a significant period of time to fix. She’ll have to return to port and may need to be taken out of the water.
‘There is a lot of head-scratching about what we do next. HMS Prince of Wales was intended to be front and centre of next month’s Future Atlantic Forum.
‘That’s looking very doubtful. So do we ready HMS Queen Elizabeth instead? Or just send other ships and the aircraft? It’s a headache.’
Last night, HMS Prince of Wales was being moved to calmer waters in the Solent to help divers inspecting the damage.
The stricken carrier had been due to host key meetings at the forum as well as taking part in military exercises. This was also due to be HMS Prince of Wales’s maiden voyage to the US.
She was declared fully operational in October 2021, after previously suffering technical issues during her sea trials.
A Navy spokesman last night confirmed investigations into an ‘emerging mechanical issue’ are ongoing.