HMS Queen Elizabeth delays departure – again

HMS Queen Elizabeth — the aircraft carrier that has already failed to leave Portsmouth Harbour once this year – has been delayed again. This time, the navy says it’s due to adverse weather conditions.

“The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is preparing for her sailing window to travel to Rosyth in Scotland so any necessary repairs can be carried out on her starboard propeller shaft coupling,” says a Royal Navy spokesperson. “As ever, sailing will be subject to suitable tide and weather conditions.“

The referenced repairs came to light after last-minute checks on the state-of-the-art aircraft carrier revealed mechanical issues with the propeller. The carrier was withdrawn from a historic Nato drill. It had been due to sail on the 4 February to Norway’s Arctic coast.

Navy ships fail to depart

A week later its sister ship, the HMS Prince of Wales which was readied to replace Elizabeth in the exercise, also failed to depart on schedule. The £3bn vessel was expected to deploy from the naval base to Norway and join Exercise Steadfast Defender, which was billed as one of the largest Nato exercises since the Cold War.

Hundreds of people lined Portsmouth Harbour to watch the carrier’s scheduled departure, until police informed crowds the vessel would no longer be sailing, and the port was reopened to normal marine traffic. The MOD did not give a reason for the last-minute postponement of the sailing. Just 18 months before that, HMS Prince of Wales broke down near Portsmouth after setting sail for America – also due to a faulty propeller shaft.

It’s not been the greatest start to 2024 for the Royal Navy which was widely lambasted for advertising for a rear-Admiral on Linkedin, and was drawn into the furore over Britain’s warships “dropping like flies.”

Main image courtesy of Belinda Alker. Other images (Merlin and F-35 Lightning Jet landing onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth) courtesy of Amber Mayall RAF.