HMS St Albans passes the Thames Barrier on her way into London. The Type
23 frigate arrived in London 26 November where she hosted a number of
events and dignitaries, demonstrating her awesome capability and
embarked Merlin Mark 2 helicopter. Royal Navy warship has since set sail
to continue with her national tasking.
“An announcement is now believed to be imminent on the future structure
of the AWD program and of ASC… believed likely to involve ramped-up
technical support from Spanish ship designer Navantia, on whose modified
F-104 platform the Hobart class is based, and the assumption by BAE
Systems of managerial responsibility for the overall program.”
HMS Duncan, the sixth of Britain’s Type 45 destroyers, successfully
downed a target with a Sea Viper missile – having fired her main weapon
for the first time. Seconds after erupting from its silo, the 450
kilogramme Aster 30 missile accelerated to 4 times the speed of sound
over the Atlantic as it manoeuvred to intercept a small unmanned target.
In the picture, the flash of fire as the missile leaves the silo is
reflected in the windows of HMS Duncan’s bridge. [Picture: Crown
copyright]
After a 32-year career, the last of the Royal Navy's Invincible Class aircraft carriers decommissions in Portsmouth.
Having sailed over 900,000 miles on operations across the globe,
including helping with the aftermath of the first Gulf War, HMS Illustrious has been decommissioned at a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base.
The ship’s white ensign was lowered for the final time in front of hundreds of guests, ending an era which began with the launch of her sister ship HMS Invincible in 1977.
Lady Sarah Chatto, whose mother Princess Margaret launched HMS Illustrious in 1978, was joined by 15 of the ship’s 17 former commanding officers at the decommissioning ceremony today.
Captain Mike Utley, the ship’s current commanding officer, said:
It has been a great honour to be the final commanding officer of
HMS Illustrious. This is a symbolic day in the history of the Royal Navy
as we lower the ensign for the final time on the Invincible Class.
We say goodbye to Illustrious with sadness and pride as we remember her outstanding history, but also excitement as the Royal Navy looks to the future and HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Illustrious is being replaced as the nation’s helicopter carrier by HMS Ocean which has just undergone a £65 million refit.
Ocean will eventually be replaced by two new 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers being built for the navy; HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
The Ministry of Defence is looking to preserve HMS Illustrious as a lasting tribute to the personnel who served on all 3 of the Invincible Class aircraft carriers.
Bids from private companies, charities and trusts to secure her future are currently being considered, and a condition of sale is that HMS Illustrious must remain in the UK.
HMS Illustrious returned to her Portsmouth home for the last time yesterday as her 32-year career draws to a close. The helicopter and commando carrier, which has clocked up 898,893 miles on operations around the world, is being withdrawn from service.
The picture shows HMS Illustrious entering Portsmouth Harbour.
[Picture: Chief Petty Officer Airman (Photographer) Nathan Dua, Crown copyright,http://www.blogs.mod.uk/.a/6a00d83505ce1d53ef01a73df29505970d-popup ]
Britain's biggest ever warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, took to the water for the first time yesterday as she as moved out of dry dock at Rosyth, near Edinburgh, to a neighbouring jetty where work on her will be completed over the next 2 years. Read more here.
The picture shows a flotilla of tugs moving the 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier out of the dock where she was constructed. [Picture: Lieutenant Phil Gamble, Crown copyright]
The Royal Navy's ice patrol ship HMS Protector has made a night-time
journey through the Panama Canal to Charleston in South Carolina
following a busy period in Antarctica. The ship took 7 hours and 38
minutes to make the 48-mile passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
The 18-metre-wide vessel travelled at an average speed of 7 knots
through the canal, which at its narrowest point measures 30 metres. The
picture shows the view from the bridge of HMS Protector. [Picture:
Leading Airman (Photographer) Jay Allen, Crown copyright]
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer and one of the Royal Navy's most
technically advanced warships, tracked and met up with a Russian task
group off the coast of Brest as they entered the English Channel on
Wednesday to sail north. Dragon, maintained at high-readiness for UK
home waters as the Royal Navy's fleet ready escort, was able to pinpoint
and monitor the movement of the 7-strong group, led by Russian aircraft
carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, as it approached the UK. The picture shows
HMS Dragon in front of the Admiral Kuznetsov. [Picture: Crown copyright]
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer and one of the Royal Navy's most
technically advanced warships, tracked and met up with a Russian task
group off the coast of Brest as they entered the English Channel on
Wednesday to sail north. Dragon, maintained at high-readiness for UK
home waters as the Royal Navy's fleet ready escort, was able to pinpoint
and monitor the movement of the 7-strong group, led by Russian aircraft
carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, as it approached the UK. The picture shows
HMS Dragon in front of the Admiral Kuznetsov. [Picture: Crown copyright]
Her Majesty The Queen will officially name the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at a ceremony in Scotland this summer.
The naming ceremony at Rosyth dockyard in Fife on Friday 4 July 2014 will mark the completion of the 65,000-tonne ship which will be Britain’s biggest ever carrier.
During the ceremony, the ship will be given a traditional champagne christening and later that month the dock will be flooded to allow HMS Queen Elizabeth to float for the first time.
The construction of the most complex warship ever built in the UK has sustained more than 7,000 jobs at more than 100 companies across the country.
The end of the build phase means the ship can now work towards beginning sea trials in 2017 and flight trials with Lightning II aircraft in 2018.
Computer-generated image of the flight deck of the Royal
Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth [Picture: Copyright BAE Systems]Members of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s crew, and industry workers who have helped to build the ship, will be amongthe thousands of people expected at the event on the shores of the Firth of Forth.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said:
This will be a proud and historic day, not just for the Royal Navy but for the entire nation. It is great news that Her Majesty will officially name the first aircraft carrier ‘HMS Queen Elizabeth’.
This occasion will mark a major milestone in regenerating the UK’s aircraft carrier fleet and its power projection capability, with the first Lightning II aircraft due to begin flight
trials off the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2018.
Computer-generated image of HMS Queen Elizabeth's
superstructure on the starboard side of the flight deck [Picture: Copyright BAE Systems]Admiral Sir George Zambellas, the First Sea Lord, said:
The Royal Navy is delighted that Her Majesty will name this great
ship – the first of a class that will return fast jet carrier operations
to our nation’s war-fighting credibility.
We have a great journey ahead, in close
partnership with the Royal Air Force, to create and sustain the best
that our shipbuilding, engineering, technology and people can deliver.
And we are proud to have the chance to show what we can do.
Work is already underway on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s sister ship the Prince of Wales which will start to be assembled in Rosyth dockyard later this year.
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