NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2011
7
Block heads to new home
MAKING its way gingerly up the Forth, this is the largest section of HMS Queen Elizabeth yet
Goliath crane which will help to piece the 65,000-tonne car- rier together in the specially-altered dry dock at the Babcock yard in Rosyth. This 8,000-tonne segment – Lower Block 03 to give it its
completed. Looming in the distance, the imposing blue outline of the
official title – of the ship was towed 600 miles around the Scottish coast from one great artery, the Clyde, to another, the Forth, during a five-day operation. It took shipwrights at BAE Systems’ Govan yard two years to complete the section, which is more than 20 metres (65ft) high, 60 metres (196ft) long and 40 metres (131ft) wide. In addition to machinery spaces, it contains cabins for more than 150 members of the ship’s company and part of the vast hangar. “Watching Lower Block 03 towed down the Clyde gave us a chance to reflect on the huge achievements of the past two years since we cut the first steel on this first section,” said Steven Carroll, Queen Elizabeth Class Project Director at BAE Systems.
While the ship section made its 600-mile journey around Scotland, a team of 50 cyclists were following its progress – determined to ‘beat the block’ to Rosyth. The cyclists, drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines
Cycling Association plus workers from BAE and Babcock, had around 430 miles to cover in five days – fewer than the tug, but the latter didn’t have to contend with the rugged Scottish terrain.
the riders intended to raise more than £10,000 for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity in the process. The cyclists did indeed ‘beat the block’, arriving in Rosyth about six hours before the section, having received considerable encouragement – and cash – from locals on their epic ride, such that they’d surpassed their target by £250 by the time they reached their destination. (The appeal fund is still open at
uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/beattheblock.) While the riders were recovering from their exertions, a
team was preparing to attach Lower Block 03 to the already- completed sections of the Queen Elizabeth’s hull. That operation at the end of August involved sinking the
submersible barge, allowing the block to enter into the water for the first time. The section was then due to be manoeuvred into position
Stopping at Fort William, Elgin, Peterhead, and St Andrews,
in the dry dock and joined to the rest of the ship so outfitting could be completed. Meanwhile back in Govan, the first piece of Lower Block 03 for Prince of Wales has been completed, just two months after the first steel on the ship was cut by Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox.
Picture: LA(Phot) Pepe Hogan, FRPU North
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