Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) CEO Andy Start recently visited Babcock’s facilities in Rosyth, Scotland, as part of his ongoing tour of industry sites.

Accompanied by Mark Beverstock, Head of Combat Ships Delivery Group, and Helga Kitney, Type 31 Project Team Leader, Start inspected the progress being made on the Type 31 frigate programme.

The Type 31 programme involves the design and construction of five new general-purpose frigates, along with the anti-submarine Type 26 being built in Glasgow, they are intended to replace the ageing Type 23 frigates currently in service with the Royal Navy. These new vessels are being built in Scotland by Babcock.

Andy Start expressed his confidence in the programme, stating, “These vessels will be fundamental in delivering the edge to protect our nation and helping it prosper. Seeing the impressive work that is being undertaken on HMS Venturer was a great pleasure, as was meeting the highly skilled individuals delivering this programme.”

HMS Venturer is the first of the next generation of Type 31 Inspiration Class Frigates, currently under construction in Rosyth. According to the Royal Navy:

“HMS Venturer is a General-Purpose Frigate, capable of deploying globally to undertake a wide variety of roles; from Maritime Security Operations, including counter-piracy missions, to Defence Engagement, and Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief. HMS Venturer introduces new technology and systems into service with the Royal Navy. This includes a ‘state of the art’ surveillance radar, high-tech electro-optic equipment and automated 57mm and 50mm gun systems that utilise programmable ammunition. The Sea Ceptor missile system provides a local area air-defence capability. Her four engines can propel her in excess of 26 knots, and the platform incorporates a raft of automation designed to enhance capability and maximise the crew’s capacity.

HMS Venturer’s flight deck is the largest of any Royal Navy Frigate or Destroyer and can operate a range of aircraft types including Merlin, Wildcat and Chinook. Provision is also made to operate uncrewed systems. The Ship has three boat bays, each of which can launch a Pacific 24 seaboat. A large Mission Bay provides the space and services to support the embarkation of task-specific equipment.

The Type 31 Class is inherently adaptable, providing capacity to accommodate future capabilities including the planned Mk41 Vertical Launch System, which is capable of launching a variety of missile types. Once she enters service with the Royal Navy, Venturer will be crewed by around 115 sailors with capacity to accommodate more as her tasking requires. Currently a small crew is working alongside the Ship in build, determining how to operate the platform in the most effective way and establishing the conditions for transition to the Royal Navy.

HMS Venturer is sponsored by Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal.”

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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66 COMMENTS

  1. Given the glacial pace the T26 is being built at it’s going to be a god send having the T31, that being said also given how long Glasgow has been in the water and how much more fitting out she still has to do I don’t think we should get too excited about T31’s still in the shed.

      • Of course everyone is assuming that it’s following the same build concept as T26. Could be it will leave the shed in a more complete state with more fitted during construction.

        • I think we are just looking at the pics in the article thinking how bare and incomplete they look given that Venturer is already late.

    • At what point are you asking “was it meant”? In the 2015 SDR, when the contract was signed, or last time there was an announcement? The first date I recall was 2023 (when Argyll was originally due out of service); that might have been in 2016/17-ish and the Type 31 had been rechristened the Type 31e. Then when the contract was signed I think it had become 2027. Now it’s 2028.

      • Venturer’s Float out was originally stated to happen in Q4 2023,obviously now your probably looking at Q4 2024 all going well.After that Fit-Out will take ……………… well as long as it takes.

    • It doesn’t look very advanced to me either.

      The difference is that at Babcock there isn’t an external fitout location.

      So I’d expect her launched weather tight with mast and maybe some weapons to be added.

      • Hi SB,
        I don’t see how they can fit the mast due to the available height, so it will need to be fitted (stepped) against the wall or in a dry dock. I’ve just been blowing the image up and comparing it to ones from last year, it’s not impressive progress.

        I do have to wonder if Babcock may have a B plan, namely make her weather tight, and tow her for outfit at Devonport.

        • I wasn’t implying the mast would fitted indoors.

          The lack of progress smells to me like making up for the lack of outfitting of the blocks.

          Sometimes build slowly in the right order produces fast at better quality….

          • That’s precisely how they built the T45’s, block builds all over UK coming together at Govan in a set order. Then slid up or down the slip and the 2 halves joined.
            I’d love to know who the PM was it was very well done.
            And yep we are now behind the build speed of the Iver Huitfeldt class.

        • Type 31e frigates won’t fit in a FRC shed at Devonport. They were only built for T23 frigate refit or maintenance. T31 would also struggle to enter the pond adjacent to FRC.

          • Built for T22 refit actually which shows how old I am having refitted 2 x B1 and 1 x B2 in there! After they built the complex the stretched T22 where to long for the FRC dock until they extended one of the docks into the basin. Then T22 B2 and B3 fitted except for the back end which poked out through the complex doors.
            Never good having a cold and draughty back end…😉

          • Yep but forget the FRC, and its lock, it’s the workforce and their skillsets that are important. You just need to consider that Rosyth pre T31 had never built a single ship from scratch. The QE’s were assembled in the Drydock from very largely pre outfitted blocks built elsewhere (the important ones were built at Govan).
            Babcock are well behind schedule, losing money on the contract and have to outfit those ships somewhere. Rosyth has zero dock availability due to QE’s and Nuclear Submarine de commissioning.
            On the other hand Devonport has T23 work drying up, a very highly skilled post build workforce (transferable skills), dry docks, crainage and the North Lock is plenty big enough.
            So I am just wondering if they are thinking of nabbing an idea from the original IH builds, hulls were built in one location but outfitted elsewhere in stages.
            As SB where at Rosyth can you do the outfitting and docking ?

          • All 100% of the build including fit out is happening in Rosyth. You dont need a dock to fit out. BAe is constrained by the current yard it has for T 26. That will change when their shed is finished and they to can do a lot of the fit out in their.
            You can do most stuff in the shed except for the mast and some upper deck equipment
            Mast fitting you can do on a hard stand prior to float out or alongside in the basin.
            Props not 100% sure about. Shaft line yes.She can float off with that fitted. Bolting the blades to the hub in water could be the option they use.
            I had a Power point on what Babcock was doing from a few years ago but as usual I cannot find it!

            Covid hit them on the build. Everyone in shipbuilding and repair got hit by it. The whole supply chain was screwed over by it. Yes they have lost some money on it but they will recoup on GFE fit out. Dont forget they will claim back for delays in RN GFE that is a result of COVID. The design is set in stone with rebar and concrete on top. No design changes by the user to ensure costs are not added to the build. Adding Mk41 will happen after handover to the RN so there is another cash stream coming from that that will reduce any loss significantly.

  3. The glacial pace of ship building in the UK clearly leaves a lot to be desired, apparently Glasgow is still only 65% complete?

    • 65% was in early April, maybe reached the 70’s by now! On track for builders sea trials beginning mid-2026, albeit still missing some government supplied equipment that will be fitted nearer to her in-service date (2028).

      • No, apparently it’s currently 65%. There doesn’t appear to be a light at the end of the long dark tunnel when it come to an in service fully operational with weapons fitted date, plus Babcock seem to be way behind when it comes to Venturer. The future is looking pretty bleak for the RN right now….

          • Think he was just referencing George’s article published here in the last 2 days where it stated 65% finished, I remember being the first to respond to that as it shocked me considering how slow the last 10% can in reality take in any build job. I may have missed the article referring to it being 65% as of one or more months back, perhaps I need to check again if that was the case.

            *The article by the way was about how it had been briefly refloated to make way for Cardiff so it was in essence about this week’s events.

    • If the image is the current state it is indeed a signal of slow progress.
      There is no way the ship will be launched in 2024 – unless it is a PR launch – in that state.

  5. Very obviously a year behind schedule, maybe worse if the internal fitout of the blocks before assembly was less advanced than is the norm in modern shipbuilding – which fear is likely. What is the betting no penalty payments in the contract?

    China can build aircraft carriers in half the time we can build a frigate.

      • Not necessarily thrown together, but created from a far more efficient, dedicated build process? Not every country in the world is so painfully slow at building ships!

        • Yes and not every country had 2 Governments that between them effectively stopped Surface Warship building for nearly a decade. Then remembered they needed to order some !
          The Yards were decimated post T45, and now we have to relearn it all over again. 😡

          • T45 went together very smoothly overall. Other than WR21 they are good big ships with excellent sea keeping.

          • Daft question but I can’t find any mention anywhere of how Babcock intend to launch them, and ideas ?
            No slip, no ship lift so it has to be a barge which could be interesting to watch. They need a barge that’s big enough but small enough to fit through the lock gate.🤔

          • I have no idea.

            I don’t think I have any Babcock contacts in that area.

            It won’t be secret as you’d be able to see it from a mile off.

          • Babcock refer to a “float-off” for Venturer, so that surely means a barge. Heavy Lift Marine are among those that have barges small enough to make it though the entrance dock gate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some deck extensions / supporting structures then need to be added before Venturer can be safely rolled on.

          • Aah. Now that is the real long standing British disease. And yet it’s not actually baked in the contrast with other UK industries like F1 show just how nimble and flexible our planners, designers, engineers and technical people can be in the right set up and with the right support.

  6. Isn’t the second in class meant to be built in parallel with the Venturer? Must be out of picture. I guess now with possible defence cuts, that there’s no chance in ordering a few more of these while costs are down and in build.

    • Not sure why we need defence cuts. As an exemple the £ has strengthen so kit like the F35 is now 6% cheaper in pounds than a few months back. Typical smoke and mirrors from the political class.

  7. Not much progress from the last photos I saw, which were published in April.
    a few spaces for windows cut into the bridge otherwise nothing obvious.

  9. So many judgemental comments based upon one not very detailed photo. I’m always amazed, at the in depth information that can be glleaned from so little.
    The remarks and advice given on here, are no doubt being given carefull consideration by the builders on how to improve their performance. Perhaps Babcock will even be headhunting this vast pool of untapped knowledge.

    • Well, people are entitled to their opinions, this site’s comments section is all about discussion, and while very few of here have expertise in any of the subject matter, we care about the UK having a strong defence force and robust industry to back it up.

      While comments may seem cynical and downbeat it is just folks on here expressing concern and maybe a bit of disappointment when we see our force atrophying faster than they are being rebuilt.

    • There is a vast collection of expertise from people who post on these pages,from Military to Civilian,many of which are quite clued up in the process of production and managing major Projects.Opinions posted here are not based on just ‘one’ picture but have followed the T31 build from it’s inception to the current situation.Remember that the main ethos of the T31 Frigate Programme was to usher in a completely new way of getting New Ships into the RN Fleet.It was the MOD/RN/Babcocks that have published timescales that have not been met,not the posters on here.

      • Another very British disease, no one outside a specific industry can ever know or have any expertise on the specific item

  10. What you can see is the externals only. Its welded up. Its primed.
    Needs the masts, Upper deck GFE and painting.

    My painters could blast to bare metal, paint that top to bottom including deck non-skid and underwater multi coat system in around 4 weeks and they would be loafing doing it ! . They regularly do the outer hull on a VLCC (160K T Empty , 330m long 60m beam, 33m depth) blast to bare and fully paint in 14 days. Thats doing it outside. T31 is already blasted and primed at block construction with holding primer to stop surface/flash rust anyway. External looks mean nothing.

    What you cannot see is the pipework, cabling, systems installed internally. A big plus is that unlike the first few T26 which come in two parts and needed sticking together outside all that stuff can happen in the shed As with T26 You can do partial cable and pipe runs in the blocks as you fabricate them. Once the Grand blocks are in place you can then join them all up from source system to end location without interruption Internal painting can be done during block construction. Some earlier construction pictures showed the double bottom tanks already painted. Shaft stern tubes, A frames and rudderstocks are fitted. Internal machinery is in place.

    Its worth noting that in ship repair and construction a 1, 2, 3 multiple cost applies on block fit outs. The more you do fitting internals to panels and blocks before making super blocks and then whole ship fitting the cheaper in manhours and fabrication costs it is. There is a 2x and 3 x cost increase the deeper you go into fitting out bigger blocks. Doing the fitting out early means there is less interference on other work. You don’t have to stop one job whilst doing something else. (For instance you cannot do hot work whilst spray painting!).

    • Hi GB,

      Nice post mate.

      Just goggled ‘HMS Venturer in build pictures’. As you say ‘A’ frames and shaft stern tubes in place and visible on at least one picture which underlines your main point, external photos can’t be taken as a guide to real progress. She also has a nice shiny paint job below the waterline which has been in place for sometime. As such I have been wondering for sometime if Babcock are doing something slightly different with this build which could make observations of past builds misleading… All we can do is wait and see and hope that as ship building experience is regained the pace can be picked up.

      I keep saying this, but I’ll say it again, “it takes years to train and develop experience as an engineer”, and that assumes there is still experienced people around you to guide you through the process. 15 years to become a team leader on a major design project would be a good achievement. How long do RN marine engineering officers and staff train for, and how much experience do they need to before they are given full responsibility for a warship’s complex systems..? I bet it takes more than a couple of months..! The shipyards were trashed with a huge loss of experience which has to be relearnt the hard way(i.e. from mistakes) because the old timers who would guide the youngsters have largely been lost. All because of a failure to maintain a steady drum beat of naval orders and now our security is imperiled – that is a political failure that BAE and Babcock have to work very hard to fix… I suppose they should have looked after their magic wands better.

      Cheers CR

      • Yes indeed, the failure to build one single escort for what is already 11 years and likely to be 13 or 14 by the time any T26 or T31 is formally commissioned, is the root of the problem. What were the Conservative Governments thinking would happen, and the MOD?

        Of course we lost the experienced base of shipbuilding workers, who retired or took up other jobs. And of course apprenticeships were few and far between, as there was nothing much in the pipeline to build.

        With a planned current total total of 19 escorts, and the RN looking for 18-20 years service life, it isn’t difficult to work out that we need to be commissioning one new escort per year and thus need a steady drumbeat of orders. So how come the 11-14 year hiatus?

        I would venture two reasons.

        First, the carriers sucked up all the available surface ship budget for many years.

        Second, the surface ships budget is woefully short and no way can afford to replace 50 warships, minor warships and RFAs over a 20 or even 25 year programme.

        The RN’s ships budget averages £2.09bn a year, and I think I remember it was increased to £2.4bn two years ago. It sounds a lot, but if the ships budget is anything like the combat air and helicopter ones, only about 30% of it is available for new aircraft or helos, the rest goes off for other, unlisted procurement, the main one of wh8ch I gather is maintenance and the high cost of contracting out to the private sector.

        How the MOD disposes of its budget is a matter Ms Eagle could usefully dig into, as the info the MOD provides is obscure, often contradictory, unclear what the 6 big TLBs are spending the money on – and only a small proportion of the total equipment budget actually goes to new aircraft, ships and army vehicles/artillery.

        One reason why BAE and Babcock are progressing much more slowly than planned may well be budgetary, with the MOD slowing things down to make its books add up. This happens repeatedly, as they prioritise other things, like C4i and computers and head office systems over building the kit the Services are crying out for.

        A big subject for another day…

          • Yes, of course it does, both major parties have been at fault over the years. But that said, I cannot remember any other time when escort building just ground to a complete halt for more than a decade.

            The last T45 was commissioned in 2013, Glasgow and Venturer are unlikely to be commissioned before 2027, so a 14-year gap, in which time we should have commissioned about 14 new escorts. Instead, we will get just two.

            A third point of delay was the financially-driven decision to cut back the Global Combat ship numbers and introduce a completely new lower-end frigate, the T31. I’ve lost track of how many years that added to the schedule. Another Cameron/Osborne decision to cut public expenditure.

            Have to hope for better from the new Government, though that is probably another forlorn hope.

  13. I love the statement ‘to replace the type 23 general purpose frigate AS they go out of service ‘ that ship sailed a couple of years ago!

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