The Royal Navy’s future flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, sailed into her home port of Portsmouth for the first time on Aug. 16, greeted by thousands of people lining the seafront and escorted by a flotilla of private boats. (UK MoD photo)
Greeted by thousands of people lining the Portsmouth seafront, the 65,000-tonne carrier was met with the warmest of welcomes as she arrived in her home port this morning.
Sailors lined the flight deck of the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy as she passed Portsmouth’s Round Tower. HMS Queen Elizabeth was also greeted with a flypast from the Fleet Air Arm, including Wildcat and Merlin helicopters and Hawk jets.
Secretary of State for Defence Sir Michael Fallon said: “Today we welcome our mighty new warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth to her home for the very first time. She is Britain’s statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role.
“The thousands of people across the UK who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud as our future flagship enters Portsmouth. She has made good progress in sea trials and will now embark on the next phase of preparations that will see the return of Britain‘s carrier strike ability.
“When she enters service, she will help keep Britain safe at a time of increased threats, able to fill multiple roles from providing air power anywhere at any time to fight future campaigns, supporting allies or delivering humanitarian aid.”
The Carrier programme has brought together the best of British industry, with construction taking place across six cities and involving more than 10,000 people. This includes 700 businesses and suppliers, 800 apprentices and nearly 8,000 jobs at shipyards around the UK.
The UK has 11 state-of-the-art F-35 Lightning II jets and 120 UK personnel training in the United States. By the end of this year that will be 14 jets, with trial flights from the carrier’s deck on track to begin next year.
Captain Jerry Kyd, the Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth, said: “HMS Queen Elizabeth’s first entry into her home port of Portsmouth is an historic, proud and exciting occasion, not only for those of us serving in her, but also for the wider Royal Navy, the city of Portsmouth and the entire nation.
“The UK’s future flagship, as well her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales, will be powerful symbols of Britain’s outward facing global character and ambition. The Royal Navy has a very special relationship with Portsmouth dating back half a millennium and both carriers will ensure the Navy’s city remains the focal point of our great nation’s maritime power for generations to come.”
The ship will berth at the newly-named and upgraded Princess Royal Jetty at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth, which will be home to both of the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers. The second, HMS Prince of Wales, will be officially named in a ceremony at Rosyth next month.
The berth has been upgraded and strengthened to support the carriers as part of a £100 million raft of infrastructure upgrades which took place ahead of the arrival of the ship.
A total of 3.2 million cubic metres of sediment, equivalent to 1,280 Olympic swimming pools has been removed from the harbour and approach channel, making it wide and deep enough to accommodate the enormous 65,000 tonne ships.
Sir Peter Gershon, Chairman of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, said: “I am incredibly proud to witness HMS Queen Elizabeth arrive at her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base having successfully completed the first phase of her sea trials programme.
“Over 10,000 people have come together to bring HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales to life, from early design to the magnificent ships they are today. It is thanks to their industrious endeavours and pride that we have achieved this historic moment in the programme to bring HMS Queen Elizabeth into service.
“We’re excited to complete the remainder of her test and commissioning programme before delivering her to the Royal Navy by the end of the year.”
Leading Airman Liam Forgeron, 28, from Portchester, is an aircraft handler on board HMS Queen Elizabeth. He said: “Being a local lad, I am extremely proud that Portsmouth will now be the base port for the nation’s future flagship.
“The historic port has a long and proud association with the Royal Navy and the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth will cement this relationship for a further 50 years. As a Royal Navy aircraft handler, serving on board this mighty vessel is a real honour, as I too get to make history in my home town.”
Both aircraft carriers are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a partnership between the Ministry of Defence and industry.
Carrier Key Facts
--Each carrier weighs 65,000 tonnes and is 280 metres in length.
--Top speed is upwards of 25 knots.
--The carriers will have a crew of around 700, increasing to1,600 when a full complement of F-35B aircraft and four Crowsnest helicopters are embarked.
--The flight deck is 70 metres wide and 280 metres long – enough space for three football pitches
--Each carrier keeps 45 days’ worth of food in its stores.
--Each carrier is made up of 17 million parts.
--There are 364,000 metres of pipes inside each of the Ships.
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The arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth into her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base marks a key phase of the carrier’s journey, prior to the Royal Navy’s official acceptance of the ship later this year, with the exact date and time of the docking not being announced until yesterday due to changing weather conditions. The naval base has spent a year and a half preparing for the moment, which has seen over 20,000 items dredged up from Portsmouth Harbour.
The homecoming of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, is not only an exciting occasion for the Navy and Portsmouth Naval Base, but also for Thales. As a founding member of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, alongside Babcock , BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence, Thales has been heavily involved in the delivery of the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship; HMS Prince of Wales.
Further to this, Thales is providing the communications systems on-board both carriers. The systems, from wireless on-board to satellite connectivity, allow the staff on the ships to talk to each other, the aircraft, the rest of the Navy and associated task groups, as well as allies, civilian vessels and air traffic with complete security, anywhere in the world.
Power and propulsion is a crucial element of the QEC programme. Comprising Rolls Royce, GE Energy and L-3, Thales has led the sub-alliance to deliver a distribution network that will generate enough energy to support both ships – the equivalent of a large town. Collaboration has been a necessity in delivering other requirements too, including for the implementation of the long-range S1850M radar, which has been supplied by Thales in the Netherlands.
As part of the QEC project on a broader level, Thales has also been involved in the designing of some of the aircraft due to be transported by the carriers; the Merlin Mk2 helicopters, which are fitted with Thales’s Folding Light Acoustic System for Helicopter (FLASH) Dipping Sonar. The FLASH Dipping Sonar allows the helicopters to locate and track submarines in deep and littoral waters, even in high reverberation and noisy conditions. Plus, the Merlin Mk2 helicopters are fitted with Thales’s Cerberus mission system and Searchwater radar as part of the Crowsnest solution, enabling the aircraft to provide the QEC carriers with vital intelligence, surveillance and tracking.
Victor Chavez, Chief Executive of Thales in the UK, says: “The Royal Navy must be incredibly excited to see HMS Queen Elizabeth sailing into her new home at Portsmouth today as this represents an advancement in our UK maritime capability. It is a milestone event for the Navy, the Ministry of Defence and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance. All employees who have been involved in this landmark programme should feel a sense of pride today. Thales’s sensors, systems and capabilities will help the carrier carry out the demands of operational life at sea for many years to come, helping to protect the ship and the ship’s company.
“It has been a real team effort and to see such an iconic example of British engineering sailing in to her new ‘home’ is an achievement we should all be justifiably proud of.”
Thales will now continue to support the QEC programme during a period of planned engineering, in order to prepare HMS Queen Elizabeth for the mission system sea trials later this year.
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