NEWS
Aircraft carriers First QE-class carrier
named On 4 July 2014 Her Majesty the Queen named the UK’s new aircraſt carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, at Babcock’s shipyard at Rosyth. Te Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Defence and First Sea Lord joined the celebra- tions, along with allies from around the world and more than 3,500 people involved in the design and construc- tion of the largest warship ever built in the UK. Te event marked the first time in more than 15 years that the Queen has christened a Royal Navy warship and in a break from tradition, Her Majesty gave her blessing as a bottle of finest Scotch whisky shattered against the ship’s hull. Ian Booth, managing director of the Aircraſt Carrier
Alliance, said: “This is a historic occasion for our country and a proud moment for more than 10,000 people across the UK who have worked together to deliver HMS Queen Elizabeth. Tis is an engineering challenge of unprecedented scale and complexity for UK shipbuilding.” The naming ceremony for the vessel marked the
structural completion of the 65,000tonne aircraſt carrier. Te ship was floated out of the dock later in July and berthed in the basin, where teams will continue to outfit the ship and steadily bring her systems to life in prepara- tion for sea trials in 2016. Meanwhile, workers across the UK are continuing the construction of sister ship HMS Prince of Wales. Te bow section has already arrived at Rosyth and the first major hull section was due to be delivered from Glasgow at the end of July. Final assembly of HMS Prince of Wales was due to begin in September in the dock vacated by HMS Queen Elizabeth. For the time being, however, it remains unclear
whether both carriers will actually enter service. Speaking to the press at the naming ceremony, the Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, expressed his view that “if the UK was going to spend
£6.4 billion [US$3.7 billion] building two ships, then the government really should pull all the stops out to try and operate both of them.” Admiral Sir George Zambellas, the First Sea Lord
and Chief of the Naval Staff, said he “expected to see a UK carrier continuously ready,” which would of course require two carriers. However, as the Secretary of State for Defence acknowledged, a decision on whether to keep both vessels is one that will be made in the context of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review. As he also acknowledged, “there are cost implications in operating both ships.” In September 2014, Prime Minister David Cameron,
said the second carrier, Prince of Wales, would be brought into service rather than sold off or mothballed.
High speed craft Future JHSV 4 completes
builder’s trials Te US Navy’s fourth Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), the future USNS Fall River (JHSV 4) successfully completed builder’s trials on 2 July 2014. Builder’s trials are the first opportunity for the
shipbuilder to operate and evaluate the ship underway. During the trials the builder, Austal USA, carried out testing to demonstrate the performance of all of the ship’s major systems including Fall River’s propulsion plant as well as the communications, navigation, and ride control systems. Following builder’s trials, the ship will undergo accept-
ance trials during which the US Navy’s Board of Inspec- tion and Survey (INSURV) will inspect and evaluate the ship to identify any deficiencies. Any necessary correc- tions identified during acceptance trials will be made prior to delivery of the vessel later this year.
Propulsion RIMPAC ships could run on
biofuels Ships and aircraft in the next Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise could run on biofuels, said speakers at an Alternative Fuels Overview briefing for RIMPAC 2014 participants. Joelle Simonpietri, US Pacific Command’s
Assembly of a sister vessel to HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to begin at Rosyth later this year
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operational manager for energy and contingency basing, spelt out the need to develop alternative fuels in order to reduce a major driver of conflict. Fossil fuel price volatility has meant that “in several of the past 10 years, the US Department of Defense (DoD) has had to do significant budget machinations,” Simonpietri said. Development of alternative fuels closer to operations shortens and diversifies supply
Warship Technology October 2014
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