BAE Systems’ new shipbuilding facility in Govan, the Janet Harvey Hall, represents a major change in how the UK designs and delivers complex warships.
Situated on Glasgow’s Clyde waterfront, the hall is central to a broader transformation of the country’s maritime industrial base.
Opened this week with a formal ribbon-cutting by Glasgow’s Lord Provost and relatives of Janet Harvey, the wartime shipyard worker the hall is named after, the facility is now the largest of its kind in the UK. At 170 metres long and 80 metres wide, it is built to accommodate the simultaneous construction of two Royal Navy frigates under cover, reducing weather delays and increasing build consistency.
This is not just about steel and cranes. The investment supports a modernised, digitally integrated shipyard system that aims to deliver the Type 26 frigates faster, safer and to a higher standard. HMS Belfast and HMS Birmingham are now under construction inside the new hall. HMS Sheffield will follow. Earlier ships in the class, HMS Glasgow and HMS Cardiff, are being outfitted at the Scotstoun yard further along the Clyde.
The facility is part of a wider shift in how warships are built, supported by the adjacent Applied Shipbuilding Academy. This academy trains thousands of engineers and apprentices annually in the specialist skills, both practical and digital, required by a modern naval shipyard.
BAE Systems targets faster shipbuilding with eyes on exports
These changes are designed to support not just the Royal Navy’s fleet renewal, but also long-term industrial resilience and future export success. Australia and Canada are already building variants of the Type 26, and Norway is actively considering it.
This page links out to a series of articles and interviews from the Clyde, including detailed briefings on the transformation of the yard, the status of the Type 26 programme, onboard reporting from HMS Glasgow, and insights from the Shipbuilding Skills Academy. Together, they offer a comprehensive look at how the UK is rebuilding its warship-building capability—and what it means for defence and industry in the years ahead.
