Britain's newest aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, worth £3 billion, broke down hours after sailing from Portsmouth

By: Maksim Panasovskiy | 29.08.2022, 20:16
Britain's newest aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, worth £3 billion, broke down hours after sailing from Portsmouth

An unfortunate incident occurred with the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, which had to anchor off the Isle of Wight in the British Channel.

Here's What We Know

HMS Prince of Wales is the newest aircraft carrier in the British Royal Navy. Valued at £3 billion, the ship went on a "landmark mission" to the United States, but less than 24 hours after sailing from Portsmouth, the aircraft carrier broke down.

Experts reportedly found damage to the propeller shaft. Up to that point, the ship had remained in Portsmouth port for nearly two years after water had entered the engine room. The cost of repairs was £3.3 million.

HMS Prince of Wales is one of two aircraft carriers in service with the British Navy. However, it turned out to be very problematic. The ship was commissioned in December 2019, two years after its launch, but has spent less than 90 days at sea in almost three years. By the way, the second aircraft carrier in the fleet is HMS Queen Elizabeth.

HMS Prince of Wales is 280 m long. The ship's typical combat load is 24 F-35B fighters and several helicopters, although in 2020 the planned load was expected to involve the deployment of a dozen F-35Bs.

Source: The Telegraph

Image: Wikipedia

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