£3bn warship returns to dock for essential prop repairs

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has limped back to its home base after breaking down off the Isle of Wight.

The £3 billion warship left Portsmouth last Saturday on its way to the US for diplomatic visits and exercises.

Shortly after, a mechanical fault was discovered with the starboard shaft.

The departure of the 65,000-tonne ship had already been delayed from the previous day because of a technical problem but a decision was taken to sail anyway.

The carrier sailed back slowly to Stokes Bay at Gosport, Hampshire, travelling at a rate of four knots accompanied by tugs for the return journey to calmer waters.

Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, director of Force Generation, who is responsible for making sure Royal Navy ships are ready to deploy, said: “Royal Navy divers have inspected the starboard shaft of the ship and the adjacent areas and they have confirmed there is significant damage to the shaft on the propeller and some superficial damage to the rudder but no damage to the rest of the ship.

“Now this is an extremely unusual fault and we continue to pursue all repair options.”

The carrier will remain in Portsmouth for further inspections before heading to a dry dock for repairs, most likely in Rosyth,where it was built.