The Navy’s £3billion Nato flagship HMS Prince of Wales has spent extra time being repaired than at sea because it was commissioned in 2019.
The provider spent 268 days present process repairs from December 2019 to Christmas Eve – and 267 days at sea, in response to The Occasions.
It spent 193 days having floodwater injury mounted at an estimated price of £3.3million. And this yr a propeller shaft malfunction was recognized because it left Portsmouth and the provider was returned to Rosyth, Fife.
A Navy spokesman mentioned repairs are as a result of be accomplished by spring 2023, forward of a ‘pre-planned upkeep interval’ in Portsmouth.
HMS Prince of Wales spent 268 days present process repairs from December 2019 to Christmas Eve – and 267 days at sea, in response to The Occasions. The ship is pictured in Portsmouth in October 2022
HMS Prince of Wales is the biggest ship within the Royal Navy and weighs 65,000 tonnes.
The issues started in 2020 when the roof of an lodging block on the warship collapsed, sending water gushing onto sailors.
Months later, electrical cupboards and pipes had been submerged when a leak sprung within the ship’s engine room.
And that very same yr, greater than 100 crew members needed to spend the evening on the provider’s sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth, when the HMS Prince of Wales misplaced energy.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, chief of the defence employees, has admitted the issues had been ‘deeply irritating’.
Talking on the annual Rusi lecture earlier this month, he mentioned: ‘These are huge capital tasks had been generally issues will go mistaken’.
HMS Prince of Wales is the biggest ship within the Royal Navy and weighs 65,000 tonnes. Pictured: HMS Prince of Wales returns to Portsmouth Naval Base after breaking down off the Isle of Wight in September 2022
For now, HMS Queen Elizabeth has changed the beleaguered provider on abroad developments – regardless of the sister ships normally alternating on eight-month excursions.
It’s understood the technical points should not associated to the ship’s class.
A spokesman for Babcock, the corporate The Occasions studies as chargeable for constructing the propeller shaft, mentioned: ‘Work is ongoing to know the reason for the difficulty and Babcock stays centered on finishing the restore.’
