Repairs on Royal Navy aircraft carrier to last until spring

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is slated to undergo repairs that will last about half a year, a navy spokesman told the BBC recently.

This latest period of repairs began in October 2022 mere weeks after the UK’s second Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier was originally scheduled to sail to New York for a series of training exercises with the US and Royal Canadian Navies.

Prince of Wales departed Portsmouth in late August but was quickly forced to discontinue its trans-Atlantic voyage after it suffered mechanical problems while underway near the Isle of Wight.

Divers who inspected the ship’s hull said they discovered “significant damage” to the shaft and the propeller and “some superficial damage” to the rudder.

The root cause of the problem was found to be a failure of the external coupling that connects the drive shaft to the outer propeller shaft.

Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, the navy’s Director of Force Generation, assured there was no damage to the rest of the ship.

Prince of Wales arrived in Rosyth in early October to undergo repairs, which are scheduled to last until this spring. A maintenance period will be undertaken afterwards in Portsmouth before the ship is cleared to return to service.