HMS Prince of Wales has been commissioned into the Royal Navy today.
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, as the ship’s Lady Sponsor, alongside HRH The Prince of Wales, presided over the ceremony at HM Naval Base Portsmouth this morning, to an audience of 2,000 from industry, allies, friends and families.
Commanding Officer, Captain Darren Houston, read the commissioning warrant to the crew and guests gathered in the hangar which will soon house F-35 jets and a variety of helicopters. Among those watching were the First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin, ambassadors from France and USA, and the commander of the US Sixth Fleet, Vice Admiral Lisa Franchetti.
The iconic White Ensign then replaced the Blue Ensign which has flown since she left Rosyth in September for her initial sea trials. Leading Writer Megan Ryan (27, from Stoke-On-Trent) was granted the honour of raising the new ensign; and youngest sailor, Chef Seth Day (17), cut the commissioning cake with Liesl Houston, the Commanding Officer’s wife.
Yesterday, the aircraft carrier was officially handed over to the Royal Navy by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.
Additionally, the Royal Navy have announced that the Prince of Wales (the person) was today honoured by the Royal Navy with a new title to celebrate the commissioning of his namesake ship.
Henceforth the Duke of Cornwall will be the Honorary Commodore-in-Chief, Aircraft Carriers, a title bestowed on him by the First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin, with the blessing of Her Majesty the Queen.
The Aircraft Carrier Alliance is a unique relationship between BAE Systems, Babcock, Thales, and the UK Ministry of Defence. More than 10,000 people across the UK have been involved in the programme to deliver the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, with six British shipbuilding yards across the country playing a vital role in the ships’ design and construction.
HMS Prince of Wales, the second of two aircraft carriers designed and constructed for the Royal Navy, recently sailed into her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base for the first time.
More than £100m has been spent updating and enhancing the facilities at Her Majesty’s Naval Base, Portsmouth, including an upgrade to the Princess Royal Jetty which will be home to both carriers. A new Combined Heat and Power facility has also been established to deliver power to the carriers, increase energy resilience and reduce the carbon footprint of the Base. Made up of three natural gas generators, at full load, the facility can produce enough energy to power 28,000 homes.
The Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers are the largest, most capable and powerful surface warships ever constructed in the UK, each providing our armed forces with a four acre military operating base. Once fully operational, the ships will provide the forward deployed base for the UK’s F-35B aircraft, delivering an uncompromising carrier strike capability to the UK’s armed forces anywhere in the world.
Great two carriers. Much more testing obviously but she immediately adds to the deterrent effect as she could be pressed into service with the support of the RAF/ARMY and/or US Marines?
In other news, once again the Americans are rather characteristically trying to undermine our aviation industry over AGAIN by leaning very heavily on Japan not to join BAE Tempest
Who needs enemies when you have your friends to screw you over at every turn
https://www.ft.com/content/a024eeec-1b08-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4
what do you expect him to do,he,s looking after americas arms industry and safe guarding jobs,and british politicians should fight equally as hard for our arms manufacturers and jobs here
I agree man with your general sentiments on this but sometimes too many cooks spoil the broth . Collaboration between multiple nations cannot be as easy as between 2 or 3 I.e U.K. Italy Sweden or U.K. and 1 or the other. U.K. just needs one committed partner nation to share cost and it could be done . Or maybe I’m just looking at this wrong and it’s whenever France is involved disagreements happen? Hopefully though japan does get involved but I won’t hold my breath .
You’ll have to forgive the typos above. America is a serial extorter of its allies and always seek to keep them down through massively unfair tariffs, protectionism, bullying and arrogant demanding. Considering the US is demanding Japan buy off-the-shelf American products rather than sharing construction and development with the UK, there is hope they’ll use Tempest. Especially in light of the lack of control the US gives to countries purchasing their planes, the bullying demands they’ve just made to Japan about protection payments and the eye-watering costs and delays their F35s started being subjected to immediately after the contract was… Read more »
Yep, that sounds pretty accurate to me Levi. Perhaps those that think we are going to get a great trade deal with the USA post-Brexit, need to join the real world!
See I land on the pro-Brexit side of things but I certainly agree the US is no friend of ours and will never play fair. They’re racketeers and extorters and they can’t be trusted in a pinch, at least not since the end of WW2
And why I would argue that membership of a huge EU economy is beneficial to Britain. The USA will pick off our industrial base (what’s left of it) piece by piece. BAE is effectively an American company…and not allowed to be known by its full title lest it causes upset!
Spot on
Of course till the 2nd WW British finsnce institutions owned a large percentage of US industry all, like our half share in Ford of Britain surrendered just like so much of our intellectual property as part of Lend Lease. Effectively by staying in the war long enough so that they and Russia could win it we lost our place at the top table while enabling the US to dominate the post War World that Trump is so keen to return to. No surprise therefore I guess he sees exploiting us for all he’s got as reflecting and repeating that former… Read more »
“And why I would argue that membership of a huge EU economy is beneficial to Britain.”
A fading one, with the growing markets elsewhere!
Global Villages and all that?
I keep quiet on Brexit these days but if others are still banging the propoganda drum then cannot be left behind can we.
And by the way, I agree with the posts on American behaviour.
A balance needs to be sought, as our link to the USA Intelligence wise is vital, as is US involvement with NATO.
Go take a cold shower.
Not quite true – there have been instances of the US buying British kit in preference to domestically produced stuff. The British Hawk trainer Was bought by the USN And now serves as the Goshawk. There are other examples of UK kit in US service. 15% of F35 is built in the UK. So the picture is not as simple as all that. I was disturbed to see the US trying to bully Turkey into buying their SAM system. Their approach was very high handed and only served to push Turkey more into the Russian camp. If tge US does… Read more »
I’m not sure anyone with a knowledge of business was expecting anything but a two way street when it comes to trade. Remember though that the US does a lot of business in the UK which they won’t want disrupted.
when we talk about US business in the UK, what we really mean is US companies extracting revenue and profit and UK companies and IP being consumed. I will believe America really cares for the relationship when I see US companies building hardware in the UK or better still, America importing UK goods and services. Not sure I’ll see that, not whilst “MAGA” is order of the day. I think any trade deal will be negative to the UK – we are already seeing that for internet tax avoidance, pharma and most likely agri/food sectors. What next? It’s been said… Read more »
See my above comment on the Goshawk and T35….
If you come to the States, visit the 8th Air Force museum and memorial gardens in Georgia.
Oh yes, I’m sorry. What Mr Reeves actually meant to say was thank you so much for saving us in World War 2. Britain would have fallen to a Nazi invasion if you hadn’t been around, good thing Germany declared war on you so that you were able to come help us. I think the complimentary intent of his comment must have got lost in translation.
” Britain would have fallen to a Nazi invasion if you hadn’t been around”
Not sure about that. Hitlers eyes had turned east before the US became involved.
The RN, and the RAF, were still intact to stop invasion.
What saved Britain from Invasion was actually the Soviet Union.
What ifs are often difficult to judge. However, without oil, food and other raw materials from the USA in the early part of the war, we may have had to come to some agreement with the Nazis….and drop out. Albeit, that we had to bankrupt ourselves in funding the materials that kept us in a fight for the freedom of the Western World….quite nice of us!
I would clarify, what saved Britain was a mixture of our own geography (the sea is the sea even if it’s a narrow bit), the fact we actually had the political and cultural will to fight (cough…third republic) and finally the overriding nazi political dogma which insisted that land was taken from lesser races ( lucky us, that we did not hit the lesser race criteria or have a lot of land to steal). Remove any one of those and we would all (including America) be living the thousand year dream. Russia was always the aim, all other nations were… Read more »
Totally disagree, what saved the UK from invasion was the defeat of the Luftwaffe at the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe quickly realised they had bitten off more than they could chew, especially as we were starting to out-produce Germany in the number of aircraft and pilots that could be sent to the “Front”. The German high command understood without control of the air, their army would have been decimated. What is not said about the BoB, was the tremendous losses faced by the then bomber command flying Fairey Battles, Bristol Blenheims and Vickers Welligtons when attacking the ports around… Read more »
Thank god for that …. Davey I applaud you, another accurate depiction of military history by someone, other than myself, that has read around the issue and clearly knows his military facts. Thank you for posting the truth.
Congratulations on your reading ding dong. I can recommend a very good Masters Degree in ‘War and Reconstruction’ ….the one that I did some years ago! Without US aid in the form of essential supplies such as oil and aviation grade aluminium, we would have been up shit creek without a paddle.
Germany did not have a hope in hells chance of invading britain. What might have defeated us was from within. The defeatests ranged against Churchill. It is not just Spitfires that won the Battle of Britain (or the attempted invasion), it was the will power of people like Churchill. France fell because it was corrupt inside.
“what saved the UK from invasion was the defeat of the Luftwaffe at the Battle of Britain.”
I agree.
What I meant, and I probably worded it badly, was that had the Soviet Union not either defeated Hitler or embroiled him as it did, the Germans could have come back and finished the job. During 41 their air fleets were dispersed to Crete, Africa, and the Soviet Union.
Indeed, the hero’s of the Battle of Britain prevented air superiority being gained, which would have spelt problems for the RN.
I do not think the German airforce would have had any better luck if they had returned. If anything we would have been better prepared… more planes, experienced pilots, improved air defence and ULTRA.
No I think they gave it their best shot at the BoB and failed.
Please can those of you that no zero about the military history of WW2 stop commenting. Britain was at risk of invasion upto September 1941, after that our aircraft production, tank production and small arms production started to outstrip Germanys. By 1942 we were militarily never going to be able to be successfully invaded by Germany. We won the Battle of Britain on our own, in what was cruelly our finest hour. Even if we had lost the battle of britain and Germany had tried to invade I think the strength of the Royal Navy would have made the maintenance… Read more »
10% of RAF fighter command pilots in the battle of britain came from Czech or polish units. Yes important contribution never going to say anything against those brave men continuing the fight for freedom, but the majority were from Britain or the commonwealth.
No need to go that far. The American cemetary at Madingley near Cambridge or the D Day cemetary at Colville Sur Mere above Omaha Beach are moving testament to the young men of the U S
Moving the goalposts again.
Brexit has nothing to do with being simply a Trump US / UK Trade deal, no matter how much the Liberal Left wish to turn it so.
It is fascinating to see.
People who voted leave did not have that in their minds in 2016.
Really not sure what you mean. An Anglo-American Trade deal is everything to do with Brexit. By its very nature it has to be post Brexit as bilateral trade deals are not permitted. If we are leaving the EU to take advantage of the big -wide world out there, how can a trade deal with the US not be part of it. ‘People who voted leave did not have that in their minds in 2016’. You are absolutely right Daniele, the question is, what exactly was in their minds other than immigration? I suspect there was very little in their… Read more »
I don’t think so Andy…they probably had no idea about such matters, and cared even less….
And once again……Golly gosh, we all soooo wish we were as worldy and educated as you!
And there you go once again, patronising and be-littling those who think different than you, and continuing to make out your of a far superior education level than those who had chose to vote leave. Your sad superiority complex does seem disturbing.
Let yourself down a bit last time…didn’t you. I would stick to your area of expertise…However, I have noticed that you have recovered from your dyslexia. Excellent sentence structure, advanced use of punctuation and, altogether, at least Level 3 communication skills. Of course, that was also evident before you lost it over my, fully justified, accusation of bullying in the last thread. Some time ago we had a contributor by the handle of Rear Gunner Richards (Daniele will remember him…they got along quite well). RGR made some appalling comments about a young female Army recruit that had been abused by… Read more »
So easy to reel you in, you bite so easy, froth fume and cannot do anything but reply! Oh and I didn’t need to bluff, I am what I and I achieved all through dedication and hard work! You keep reading the books and I will remain the content!
Apologies for the short reply, pressed post prior to finishing my reply! I love your replies, they are so presumptuous and subtly nasty, with your misplaced arrogance and self righteous attitude. Middle class but not quite there, but always thought you should be better. And never presume that others lie, just because it may come easy to you. Please reply as us working class peasants do need your educated guidance to make sure we do as expected.
Lost it again! Just don’t learn, do you? Class A Pratt!
You make this far to easy, try harder oh aged one! And class A Pratt? Ah the thin veneer of left wing civility! Keep going grumpy keep us peasants educated!
Morning. “Daniele will remember him…they got along quite well)” I do remember him Herodotus. And Captain Pugwash! Another arch enemy. I try and get along “quite well” with everybody if I can, even if I disagree with them. I did not care for some of RGR’s comments, but they were not directed at me, and he was always friendly enough. You should try it. Another poster here, Sole Survivor, I have great respect for, and I find his detailed explanations fascinating, and even compelling, even though I fundamentally disagree with his support for Corbyn. It might also surprise you that… Read more »
I have never thought you were stereotypical in any respect. When a contributor starts to argue that ‘women that join the armed services are asking for it’, I feel that it is only right that they are held to account for it….Similarly, those that go out of their way to bully others ought to be reminded that we all have a voice on this forum…..
“I have never thought you were stereotypical in any respect”
No, that’s fine. I was not suggesting you were concerning myself, I just thought I’d throw it in there for interest!
Oh, congratulations by the way, it looks as if Brexit will now go ahead! I am intrigued as to what sort of Boris we will get in the coming year. I have a feeling that it might well end up being quite a soft Brexit. Boris was really quick to play the ‘One Nation Conservative card. The February cabinet reshuffle will tell us a lot!
Herodotus. I’m sick of Brexit, and I campaigned for it. And I’m sick of squabbling with fellow Brits over it. My kin.
Who will replace Swinson? When I mentioned her to a colleague today they replied “who”? Not much to go on.
I would like to see Boris ease austerity and spend, especially in the north. Too much emphasis on the south east leaving those up north feeling left out.
Soft Brexit. Yes it probably will be, as I’m reading the EU will now demand compromises to agree a trade deal.
To be honest, I don’t care who replaces Swinson. I am more concerned about getting the Labour Party back as an electable force. There is no future in niche socialism in this country….a lot of people don’t want to know. It is time for Labour to re-stablish itself around electable Social Democratic core values.
I quite agree. It is healthy to have effective opposition and genuine choice.
You always need an effective and viable opposition, and that’s where the Labour Party under Corbyn, and momentum have disgraced themselves in letting the working people of this country down! We are forced to choose from the lesser of a number of evils, not necessarily who or what we want! Cheers mate.
Respect mate. As always.
Just got to take this opportunity to say thank you! If it wasn’t for you and others of your ilk, the arrogant, dismissive and patronizing way you have treated and spoke to others, who disagree with your middle class wannabe attitude, then the working man may have used his vote to get in Corbyn and his acolytes in power. However your condescending attitude has ensured that most are sick of being told how to behave and how to vote and have chosen reality over fiction! Therefore myself and others are in your debt. Many thanks and have a great evening.
I have to conclude you know nothing about history. Also you know little about the American people and have no American friends. Otherwise you would know how inaccurate and offensive your comments are.
But doesn’t japan build versions of American jets in japan like the Mitsubishi F-2 that’s origins are the F16?
They did, though they’re locked out their own black boxes as with any export F16. Also the cost was massively inflated
In this case, the very best Japan can expect from the US is the option to do a domestic license build with limited access to information or capability for their industry. Tempest on the other hand will be a joint programme
Thank you comrades for your contributions
I’d take it as a complement. They know Tempest might be a commercial threat to them.
Andy if you mean it must be capable of operating from the carriers then I would say that was obvious unless we are planning on still using the F35 in 50 years time.
Just like the F15 F16 and F18 all 1970’s and 80’s tech and development yes that 40 year plus shelf life of the teen series is pretty poor no way an F35 variant 30 years down the line will still be flying based on those previous jets …….. ?
Don’t forget business is war!
Bloody marvellous…
Now let’s order another 3 type 31s minimum…..
I vote we encourage quick delivery of those on order with the carrot of 3 more batches if they match expectations
We don’t want to order F35’s until the exchange rate is better. Once its back to 1.6 we should get the squadrons the Americans know we need and then reconsider the options.
2100?
If you are an optimist Friday morning?
Problem is, I don’t know what “good” likes anymore
Problem is a lot of the technology we will need for Tempest will be American or have US intellectual property rights, it’s why for example Arm has to abide by US sanctions against Iran. So as much as we might like to play hardball we really cannot afford to seriously piss them off. Especially if we are not part of a multinational European effort wider than the present one. If Japan joined, it would seriously take its potential to the next level and then some in so many ways, finance not being the least. The Meteor agreement is a small… Read more »
I am a bit surprised and pleased how Japan went down the Meteor route, especially with the concentrated targeting by the US to make them buy the D version of AMRAAM.
I’m not sure that loss of (let’s assume) 80 further orders from the UK MoD would have a big financial impact on a program that will easily surpass 3,000 airframes. I think it would create the headlines though and may influence some other countries to look elsewhere. For me, we need a minimum of 72 f35Bs as we don’t have any other choice but to fly them. Further orders beyond that, i’m all for considering what’s best for UK military and UK industry. If that means tranche 4 Typhoon, i’d Be happy with that particularly if it strengthens the Tempest… Read more »
Yep, I think I would go along with most of that. To constantly run around like Robin to the US’ Batman is both demeaning and not in our best interests. Europe needs to wake up to its obligations and we need to be a part of that!
Brilliant Idea! Kill UK aerospace that relies on the F-35 consortium. That will teach those pesky Americans….. will make the Tempest project rather difficult to complete though.
I think you mean 5 Type 26’s.
How big is that Lieutenant on the left in the second of the hanger photos. I bet he can’t fit the standard RN bunk…perhaps he has a hammock somewhere?
Good spot, he’s a bit of a ‘giraffe boy’. You’re right, he’ll not get a good kip in a standard scratcher.
I expect that posting him to an aircraft carrier is appropriate, as it is one of the few ships with adequate deckhead clearance! Astute class is a no go!
He’s not good looking enough to be a submariner…… 😉
I’ve seen some really tall boys on boats though, a couple over 6’6″.
OMG your right he makes everyone else look like umpa-lumpas.
If POW want to go CATOBAR, he could launch the planes on his own!
The last Prince of Wales did not do to well,I would rather she had a better name.Illusterous for one maybe.
Just a very late comment. Regarding the US Lend Lease I feel some comments re US are misguided. The reason the US insisted on (often) prompt payment – with often negative financial implications for the UK was I believe because the UK never repaid its US loans from WW1. Indeed I think(?) They are still unpaid. The reason for non-payment was that France, Italy and Russia never paid their debts to the UK. Nor to the US either. Given the EU’s hypocrtical insistance (with France unsurprisingly leading the chorus) of the UK paying its EU debt on Brexit ( highly… Read more »
More a case of Roosevelt keeping UK PLC in business legally….being up against the America 1st movement that included such delightful characters as Henry Ford an Charles Lindberg. How times change….errr
I think it might be the island in the Firth of Forth…often mistaken for a battleship. On the other hand that could be a load of Ballocks!
Great to have two big carrriers. Now we need to give them better anti-air & anti ship missile defence weaponry & an escort fleet that matches the commitments we have.
As you probably all know by now, Andy suffers from a bent Caps Lock key! Anyone up for doing a UKDJ crowd funding with the aim of getting him a replacement keyboard/laptop?
There’s a really interesting article posted on SavetheRoyalNavy about what to expect over the next 18 months and beyond with some good detail on numbers. It’s for the carriers as a whole, not specifically QE or PoW. The two highlights I took away, but by no means the only interesting stuff in the article were… 1 – First operational deployment in May 2020 will be an all-UK escort group. Sub, 2 x T23, 2 x T45, 1 x Tide and Fort Victoria. (Technically it doesn’t say the sub is British but I think that’s n extremely safe assumption.) Jet wing… Read more »