Feature 4 | AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
Babcock starts assembly of QE class aircraft carriers
In September 2011, the UK’s Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Peter Luff MP, witnessed preparations for the start of the assembly by Babcock of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of two new Queen Elizabeth (QE) class aircraſt carriers when he visited the firm’s Rosyth dockyard.
major milestone in the build programme. Te Royal Navy’s new aircraſt carriers
T
are being delivered by the Aircraſt Carrier Alliance (ACA) – an alliance between Babcock, BAE Systems, Tales and the Ministry of Defence – and are being built in large individual blocks at six shipyards around the UK, which are then transported to Rosyth for final assembly and integration. Te huge mid-hull section, known as
Lower Block 03 (LB03), arrived at Rosyth in August, having been shipped from Govan where it was built by BAE Systems. This was followed by the arrival in September of the four sections making up Centre Block 03 (CB03), from Newcastle where they were built by A&P Tyne. Te sponsons for this section (which form part of the ship structure to provide a wider flight deck), constructed by Babcock, were already at Rosyth following delivery of the components from Babcock’s Appledore shipyard in Devon. Te massive 8000tonne LB03 section
is over 20m high, 60m long and 40m wide. On arrival at Rosyth the barge transporting it was sunk to float the block, which was then towed to the main basin and winched into No 1 Dock using a capstan system and alignment aids in the dock, where it was lowered on to the pre-prepared dock blocks. Once in place, the dock gates were closed, the dock drained, and services connected to enable work on the block to commence. The first of the four CB03 sections,
weighing some 850tonnes and measuring 40m by 26m by 7m, was liſted onto the
Warship Technology January 2012
he first centre block section was liſted onto the lower mid-block on 23 September, marking a
September saw a major milestone in the QE class carrier programme when the first centre block section was lifted onto the lower mid-block.
LB03 block, a process which will be followed by the remaining three CB03 sections, each weighing in the region of 600tonnes, as well as the sponsons for the centre block. Te liſting of the block sections involves
further challenges. Finite element analysis (FEA) has been used to study how the individual blocks will perform when liſted to ensure this is executed safely, and the crane’s liſting attachments have been highly engineered to ensure stability and balance of the load across the hoists. Assembly of the aircraſt carrier will
take place in three cycles, A, B and C. Te assembly of the sections LB03 and CB03 and associated sponsons to create Block 03 makes up Assembly Cycle A,
which has now begun and will continue to summer 2012. Assembly Cycle B will see the joining
of Lower Block 02, which will arrive from BAE Systems in Portsmouth later in 2012, and Lower Block 01 (comprising the forward sections from the keel up to the flight deck, including the bulbous bow) which was built by Babcock at its Appledore shipyard in Devon and shipped to Rosyth in April 2010. Tis will take place between summer 2012 and spring 2013. The remaining blocks, including the
stern sections and island structures, will be assembled in Cycle C, with the hull fully assembled by 2014. Progressive outfitting will see electrical cabling,
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