HMS Queen Elizabeth has finally set sail for repairs after she was forced to withdraw from a NATO exercise last month.
The ship has left Portsmouth and is now on its way to Scotland for repairs on its propellor shaft in Rosyth. Routine checks revealed the problem and it was replaced on the Exercise Steadfast Defender mission by the HMS Prince of Wales.
But that ship too was subject to an embarrassing hold up – with the £3bn warship leaving a day behind schedule. The situation has brought the reputation of the two carriers into question as people have already been wondering why neither carrier has been deployed to attack Houthis in the Red Sea.
HMS Queen Elizabeth would normally take part in operations as part of a Royal Navy Carrier Strike Group (CSG). But the only support ship available to keep the CSG supplied, RFA Fort Victoria, could not carry out the job due to a lack of manpower.
Retired Rear Admiral Chris Parry said: “The carriers are getting a reputation for not being reliable. They are big, complex bits of machinery, and the joy of having both of them is that the second one can step into the breach at a moment’s notice – that moment has been a bit longer than we would have hoped.”
At the time of the HMS Prince of Wales holdup security minister Tom Tugendhat said that he needed to ask questions about the delay.
He told LBC: “I’m afraid it’s not something I can explain – that’s a matter for the MOD (Ministry of Defence), and I’m going to have to ask some questions about it.”
He added that “it isn’t acceptable” that the UK has such “expensive and important items of kit sitting in dock”, when they should be defending the country.
In August 2022 the HMS Prince of Wales broke down – also with a propeller shaft problem – shortly after leaving Portsmouth and had to go into dry dock for repairs. The HMS Queen Elizabeth was constructed alongside its sister ship HMS Prince of Wales as part of the Royal Navy’s elite new warships.
The ship is the largest and most powerful vessel ever constructed for the Royal Navy and entered into service in 2020. It was designed to be the Royal Navy’s principal ship, meaning she will carry senior naval staff, receive foreign dignitaries, and serve as a command and control centre for the entire Royal Navy.
