England's New Super-Carriers

pikestaff
reply to post by orangetom1999

 

Read a blog last week about the Chinese military, one part mentioned the Chinese navy, the PTB put their best sailors in their best submarine, out to sea it sailed, then sank with the loss of all hands, don't know what the moral is of that tail, but seems training might be really important.

Wow Pikestaff..I've not heard this one. A new one to me. But it is not surprising. Not sure how far back this happened but if you can link the article to your next post..it would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Orangetom

A slight up date for this thread. Work continues on the HMS Queen Elisabeth, in preparation for the ceremony of naming on 4th day Juillet 2014 at the Scots warship dockyard at Rosyth near to capital city Edinburgh. Painting is the main thing just now, to have the ship ready for the ceremony, for it is the Queen herself who is to name the ship.

A nice cut away showing the ship innards.


After a few weeks more the ship will be floated out of the yard, in preparation for fitting out and trials. But there is no rest for the yard, as soon as one ship leaves it's sister begins construction, HMS Prince of Wales.

Unfortunately there was a fire on board HMS Queen Elisabeth only 4 days ago but no damage substantial was reported and more important there were no injuries to crew.
www.bbc.co.uk...


Bows of both HMS Queen Elisabeth & HMS Prince of Wales (components/modules of which are being constructed all around the Royaume-Uni).


Scaffolding for the painting of the bow.




The port shaft.


Another of the two bows together, this time the bulbous front end of Prince of Wales.


The anchors will be enormous.


And I really like this last picture. The yard are working 24/7 to have the ship ready for the naming ceremony and I think the pace of activity becomes clearer with this photo.


I hope you like this update.

Nice pictures. Thank You.

Yes...the painting...cosmetic work is among the last big items and cannot be done until the main equipment is installed, hooked up, and tested. Only then can the cosmetic work be scheduled otherwise it is a waste of time with all the heavy work to be done.

Some initial painting and preparation work is of course done..on the foundations on which goes this heavy equipment...but most of it is scheduled when the equipment is installed and tested. Otherwise it is likely to be damaged by other trades.


But on any ship..when the heavy work is done...lots and lots of painting and paint preparation needs to be done. By cosmetic work I also mean surface preparation..not just for looks but for anti corrosion properties...rust..seawater. Very very important.

Looking foreward to hearing how this ship works out on sea trials.

Been keeping an eye out on Google Earth at the shipyard at Rosyth, Scotland.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Some new pictures & an article about the ships in Daily Mail newspaper online today.





www.dailymail.co.uk... -approaches-reveals-powerful-ships-vast-scale.html

LeBombDiggity,

Ahh..ok...Thanks LeBombDiggity for any updates. On or about the fourth of July..yes.

Was wondering when she would be floated.

I've been keeping an eye out on any progress and awaiting to hear how sea trials went.


I am hearing stores about the seven nuclear submarines at the other end of the dry dock where they are tied up to the piers.
That this work may be contracted out to some Stateside companies here.

This company here locally builds and overhauls the Ford and Nimitz class carriers as well as builds and does maintenance on the Virginia class submarines and the Los Angeles class boats.

Hence any new development in the carrier and submarine world is of interest to us.

Thanks again for the update.

Smooth Sailing ... May the winds be at her back.


Orangetom

Man I love these updates. Lol

We don't need them.

a reply to: jamie6737

Yes we do.....

We have a wide variety of interests globally and without these, we may as well kiss them goodbye. Not to mention the humanitarian relief that can be provided by such ships, as is quite common. In fact, the Royal Navy is almost always present at every disaster around the globe, the one's near to coast's anyway.

To say we "don't need them" is also so very short sighted you sound like a Treasury goon from circa 1980, who also declared we didn't need any carriers and were prepared to scrap the one's we had prior to the Argentine invasion of the Falklands. In fact, it was precisely because of the proposed naval cuts in the early 80's that they felt they could take the islands.

originally posted by: jamie6737
We don't need them.

We need them if we (the UK) wants to continue as a power capable of supporting our global allies and frightening the natives.

We also need them as these keep people gainfully employed, skills and technologies updated and all that. At a cost granted, but everything costs. So long as the work is done in the UK, as a significant portion of the cost is reclaimed through tax etc., which is why if Scotland votes for independence these will be the last RN ships that'll be built in Scotland. Interesting thought.

Regards

originally posted by: paraphi
So long as the work is done in the UK, as a significant portion of the cost is reclaimed through tax etc., which is why if Scotland votes for independence these will be the last RN ships that'll be built in Scotland. Interesting thought.

Regards

Quite - Interestingly, Sturgeon and Salmond haven't quite grasped this concept and only a couple of weeks ago, stood in front of shipyard workers in Glasgow telling them they would still get the GCS (new Frigate) contracts - this despite the local Unions telling them they are talking crap as well.

UK Defence Journal

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: jamie6737
We don't need them.

which is why if Scotland votes for independence these will be the last RN ships that'll be built in Scotland. Interesting thought.

Regards

oh well. Well just have to build SN Ships, Cruise ships, Oil Tankers etc in the future. What we save not having to pay for HS2. Trident upgrades and London's Sewage system will keep us going for years and years to come.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

If the Yards on the Clyde were capable of that, why do they not do it already? Why is the only thing keeping them open, MoD contracts?

They are BAe Yards and, if you do go Indy, they will close them. Where do you think those experienced workers will go?

They'll be given (very good) relocation deals to Portsmouth (to the Yard currently earmarked for closure)...

Then what?

All seems a bit of a fantasy really, Solo. Like I said, if Scotland (or anywhere in the UK for that matter) was competitive in that sort of Shipbuilding, they'd be doing it already.

EDIT: As for any future "Scottish Navy", it will, at most, consist of a frigate or two plus fishery patrol vessels - no where near enough work to keep the Yards open for any length of time.

originally posted by: stumason
Quite - Interestingly, Sturgeon and Salmond haven't quite grasped this concept

This is not new. They will - and have - promised the earth, secure in the knowledge that if they win they can blame all the empty promises unfulfilled on the English. If they lose they will have maximised expectations making it problematic for the rest of the UK to deliver anything remotely close to what has been promised under the SNP, thus enabling the SNP to (er) blame the English.

However, keeping it on topic. On launch, is HMS QE going to get a special paint job like HMS Dragon. Say, a big crown. That would be a nice touch.

Regards

originally posted by: jamie6737
We don't need them.

LOL LOL LOL...now this is textbook of todays public education thinking. Textbook.

It is textbook of what they are turning out in the UK with people primarily having a television and movie education in emotions and not thinking.

It is also happening here in the States...with highly emotional people with primarily a television and movie education. The problem is ...that now days..many of these emotional, television and movie educated types are our leaders.

Drama queens..who prefer to operate by dividing and conquering a people..not by real leadership skills.


Come on people!!! You are an island...an island...surrounded by water.

Plus you are taking on more and more of the worlds dissatisfied peoples and putting them on the public till/purse.

This means that there will be less and less for the native Englishman as these new comers eat up and outspend the local/native peoples.

You are going to have to rely more and more on imports..meaninig the sea lanes must be kept open.



Do some of you think the store shelves remain filled because you are good people..??? And that you deserve good things??

The shelves remain filled because someone thought it through from beginning to end...not some politician or hack political appointee.



Importing goods and services in any volume means the ships must be built to ship and trans ship. The sea lanes must remain open and free to so do. Meaning ships to protect the sea lanes.

What are some of you Englishmen thinking??? Or are you???



Some of you do know...do you not...that it was in WW1 and not WW2...that England was within two weeks of lack of food and supplies to the U boat Menace??!!



Now..dont worry...here in the states..our leadership is just that ignorant as well..preferring to trade our ability to go out and trade for votes and public breast feeding of new immigrants on the public purse...for votes/power.

Exactly what is happening in the UK with all the immigrants coming in on the public purse will happen here in the States with all the illegals coming across the border...they will go on the public purse....for votes.

Our military will be cut back to be able to have our politicians buy up more votes by such subsidies...of newly arrived immigrants..legal or illegal.
We too will take second and third place status in our own country.....by way of our leadership......just like you Englishmen.


Thanks,
Orangetom

Queen Elisabeth named the lead ship today at a ceremony in Scotland.





The last of the Invincible carriers, HMS Illustrious, is in the neighboring berth.
The difference in size is really noticeable.

Full ceremony as transmitted live on tv in Europe.


Some more videos, I hope people outside UK can view them OK.




Some links to local video news services in Scotland.
news.stv.tv...
www.bbc.co.uk...
www.bbc.co.uk...

It can't be long now until the ship is floated out, to make way for the assembling of the second ship HMS Prince of Wales.

Sorry for the mess up, I forgot this photo from the post above, this is the HMS Illustrious aircraft carrier beside the new HMS Queen Elisabeth.

And some more

Sorry for the many posts, the photo upload on here is a problem sometimes.

a reply to: LeBombDiggity

The one problem I have with the reporting on the naming ceremony is they all seem to be implying the Queen named it after herself - this is not true.

No Royal Navy ship ever gets named after a sitting Monarch - after all, it would look bad if it got sunk! - this one is named after the Virgin Queen herself, the one with the habit of lopping peoples heads off.

I contend that these are "make work" job creations, about the only kind that can help the common man in the UK these days as it and other Western nations sink under a mix of various problems. Better that a government official stand at the gates to the shipyard and hand out the cash to those workers that show up and dismiss them at once with a "Thanks for coming." That would save a lot of effort all around and not cost a pound more.

One has only to look at the state of warfare as it was and what is to be expected to realize that those carriers will be worthless once completed (if completed) except as new, show-piece relics of a all but disappeared navy.

WWII showed us how aircraft can defeat a navy--that started with Pearl Harbor and then played itself out in the south Pacific. (Forget about relatively rare ship-to-ship navel battles HMS Hood, etc. They won't happen again.)

Strategically and tactically, an aircraft carrier is a condensed body of the enemy's resources and capabilities. By its very nature, it must be put in some manner of harm's way. Take out that base of two or three dozen planes and you have won the battle being fought. No amount of ship-mounted weaponry will be able to protect a carrier from its enemies.

The correct view to have is to remember the hundreds if not thousands of cruise missiles that thundered onto Saddam's property, putting him out of the communication business. That was warfare on the cheap as far as the attacker was concerned. That will be much the way great future wars will be fought on land, at sea, and in space. Salvo after salvo of attacking missiles and rockets with plummet the targets in massive storms until the target is reduced to zero value as a target. The firing of those weapons be done from varied and distant places, none close enough for the carrier to seriously harm by its planes.
rapid-fire defensive weapons.

Sorry to belabor my point with this material not directly related to the new project, but the idiocy of such work needs to be be fully understood in a larger perspective. Over on this side of the pond, we have our F-22 and F-35 boondoggles to peddle, wanna buy a few to help out our "make work" efforts? Heck, we'll even throw in a old shuttle that we may have left over.