Aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is expected to leave Portsmouth for the first time tomorrow morning.
The vessel will depart around 8.20am. This departure is notable as it will be the first undertaken by the vessel as a commissioned Royal Navy vessel.
Fore more information on departure times and even the names of the tugs that will assist, see the Queen’s Harbour Master Portsmouth listings.
Next week, the vessel is expected to arrive in Liverpool. People will be able to step on board over the weekend of the 29th of February, the first time one of the new aircraft carriers has been open to the public.
Captain Darren Houston, the Commanding Officer of HMS Prince of Wales, said:
“My ship’s company and I are hugely excited about our first visit to Liverpool. This is an opportunity for us to cement our bond with the city as one of the newest warships in the Royal Navy’s fleet. We’re looking forward to hosting people from the local community on board during our time alongside, and I know we will receive the warmest of welcomes.”
Deputy Mayor and Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and events, Councillor Wendy Simon, said:
“It’s a huge coup for Liverpool to welcome its affiliated ship HMS Prince of Wales on its inaugural, history-making visit. The sheer scale of the ship will be a real spectacle on the River Mersey and is set to attract national and international attention, drawing massive crowds. Maritime events always prove to be hugely popular in Liverpool, and this will be no exception. Once again our world heritage waterfront will provide the incredible backdrop for a striking vessel, and we look forward to welcoming her at the end of the month.”
Have they fitted Phralanx yet? I’d like to see Sea Ceptor fitted to both carriers, possibly in the area beside the raised bow deck?
i would love to go and see her but being in the North east and can,t be done with travelling. i am hoping they may do a visit sometime,like they have done with other vessels in the past.
No, not yet. I suspect they will fit the guns incrementally like tgey are doing with QE. QE has 2 phalanx fitted and will get the last one and her 30 mm mounts on her return from training in UK waters. She will reach her initial Operating Capability after that. No sign of Sea Ceptor being fitted… however I agree with you it should be fitted. Some Sea Ceptor ER would be a great investment to protect the ships.
The Navy trusts the £1.5 billion T45 Destroyers for air defence to do it’s job, If a carrier has to fire it’s own missiles/phalanx, something has gone very badly wrong. The QE class also has very sophisticated EW systems that you won’t be able to read about in wikipedia. It’s not just about guns and missiles.
True, though the T45 only sports 48 anti-air missiles. It would be a good idea to have another battery onboard QE as well if the CSG is making a long distance deployment
There would be at least two Type 45s with the carrier wherever she goes though; on her first tour next year there will be two of them so that’s 96 Aster 15/30 missiles, plus the short-medium range Sea Ceptors in the Type 23s (32 each) so that’s an extra 64. So that’s 160 air defence missiles. Quite a significant amount really.
Plus, in an actual combat operation the QE or PoW is likely to have more than two destroyers and two frigates protecting it. Probably three Type 45 destroyers and at least 4 Type 23 frigates.
Yes… In a real war you would see me in my tin helmet and be huddled at the bottom of my garden in the air raid shelter. The balloon will have well and truly gone up if we have 7+ escorts on station.
… and I will be practicing my mandarin!
Yes, plus other coalition warships. If the Navy had more money to spend on extra missiles, I’d rather they go on our T45’s then the carrier’s. Some people seem to think our fleet is going to go to war against China all on our own, that’s never going to happen. The American carrier’s have never fired a missile in anger, ever. The QE class will be the best projected carriers ever to enter service.
I know bud but……..for peace of mind, I’d rather they had them fitted. In a peer adversary conflict, more is better as we won’t always have it our own way, the enemy has his go as well.
My bigger concern in a peer adversary conflict is our lack of offensive weaponry rather than missile defense on the QE.
Our only anti ship platforms are the Astutes, of which we would likely only have 2 in a fleet at once, and the obsolete Harpoons on our Type 23s.
We need to get our interim missile, and ideally able to launch from F35 as well as our ships.
The EW systems fitted must be for intellignece rather than tactical. She has not got the Vigile D RESM system fitted to Type 45 and Type 23 – if you examine the masts it is clear the recievers are not fitted. I can’t see a countermeasures launcher like Seagnat anywhere either.
I know she’ll have Type 45 and 26 around and she probably will have a highly sophisticated EW system but…….just to be sure, I’d still prefer for them to be fitted for peace of mind. £3.5 billion worth of ship helicopters and F-35’s depend on it, that and over a thousand lives remember.
The Navy has made a huge investment in getting the right equipment (T45, Sea Ceptor) to protect the carrier. It is never going to be on it’s own, we are never going to go to war against the entire Chinese fleet, on our own with one escort and one Frigate, it just doesn’t work like that. If somebody has got the opportunity, to one, find the carrier in the first place, and two, get a firing solution, then we have had a very bad day indeed, and most if not all of our escorts will probably already have been lost.… Read more »
Andy, I think there is a case for fitting Sea Ceptor to underwrite the lack of advanced Type26/31 frigates. I don’t necessarily understand the argument about total reliance on 45’s? If the carrier group is inundated with a drone swam or gunboats, plus fast jets, then surely you can’t have enough countermeasures or close-in defence. That is one reason I prefer the Russian approach, and ensure that naval vessels are equipped with the maximum weapons that are possible to package. The notion that fitting Sea Ceptor to the QE’s is bordering on redundancy, is a misguided conception.
The carriers can track anything that moves in a 500 miles radius, gun boats and small drones arnt going to get anywhere near it. The layered air defence system has been proven time and again.
It all sounds reassuring, but similar words were used prior to the Falklands war and we suffered losses that had not been foreseen. Every conflict exposes weaknesses, even though the designers hope they have been addressed. I still believe the carriers need the very best defensive weapons, to reduce the likelihood of a ‘lucky shot’ incident.
Wrong user name.
Didn’t lose a carrier though ,did we ?
Layered air defence sometimes results in losses in the outer screen but that’s the plan if all else fails.
I often wonder if a good option is to have a “jeep carrier” or two to escort the QE/ PoW and have suitable AA radars to replace the T45s. They could have lots of various silos and hanger space for overflow aircraft and maintenance. Effectively modest,15,000 – 20,000, though deck cruisers. Not even a ramp if necessary, not necessarily with fully armed aircraft, just a very complementary and versatile hull.
Such a hull could be the basis of an amphibious ship (?).
This could make space for say 3 more, more heavily armed, T31s.
(Here endeth the Fantasy Fleet)
That wouldn’t be a bad idea Maurice, I was absolutely stunned when I found out that the QE Class Supercarriers were going to have nothing more than a Phalanx for defence. I know they’ve said that the air assets of the Carrier will provide defence but there will be times when they can’t. Not only that, what happens if the Phalanx went down and the air wing was out on other tasks? What happens then? Are they really happy to risk over a thousand lives and £3.4 billion worth of ship, helicopters and F-35’s? Having Sea Ceptor on board would… Read more »
Steve H, you are correct to worry about the ‘lucky strike.’ How can a country build possibly the best carriers in the World, but fail to enhance their independent defence? After ‘Bluff Cove’ you would think our policy would be to maximize weapon suites, to ensure the ‘luck strike’ factor was eliminated as much as possible. If there are cost issues in regards to fitting Sea Ceptor, then they should consider hosting a mobile land version as a temporary measure? Failing that, at least carry out a feasibility study to establish if such a scheme could be employed in a… Read more »
https://www.itv.com/news/2020-02-15/royal-navy-warship-and-lifeboats-searching-for-man-in-sea-off-kent-coast/
Apparently the RN have a “60 gun Frigate HMS Winchester”
No wonder so much of the media are clueless on defence.
“HMS Winchester was a 60-gun frigate, launched in 1693. Foundered in 1695”. What a sloppy bit of Google research by ITV. Hope the present HMS Winchester lasts a little bit longer!
But there isn’t even a HMS Winchester in service at the moment!
Touche! Sloppy bit of research on my part! Oh dear…
Not since WW2 I believe.
The last 60 gun HMS Winchester was in 1822, the last HMS Winchester was a destroyer in WW1. I did pounce on the original article where it was taken down shortly after.
I do agree that people should do their research correctly and if you are going to write about matters of defence the nget it right.
All I can say is stupid.
Bloody hell! I should have read the reply’s first! Lol
Hahahaha funny, no wonder our country doesn’t know the state of our navy or millitary.
HMS Winchester was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched at Bursledon on 11 April 1693.
Morning Daniele. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the RN would know that there was no such ship in service-Gaffe of the week if not of the merry month of February! My other favourite is how some reporters refer to RN ‘Battleships’-apparently we still have a few! Overcast and raining in Durban this morning-welcome relief after searing temperatures in the 30’s!
Morning Geoff. Tail end of Storm Dennis here, wind and rain!
Perhaps we should start an unofficial monthly gaffe vote here regarding the media.
Great idea Daniele-the Mail online never disappoints-“THE HMS Queen Elizabeth is sinking fast and water is having to be pumped out of her. She still has no aircraft…”Cheers
Research is all very well, but if you have no idea what you are really looking for, it can be a waste of time. The invention of the calculator helped many to do lengthy calculations…but if they made a mistake on data entry, they had no idea if the answer was wrong; however absurd the answer. The classic erroneous press stories these days are often associated with DNA. Some of the absolute nonsense written about this topic is astonishing. Our journalists are too preoccupied with reporting celebrity culture and feigning distress when one of their victims croaks!
Correct!!
Can someone tell me why HMS Prince of Wales is not twined with something in Wales.
I have said before I would love to see HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Dragon, HMS Cardiff and who knows maybe something in the T31s to form a Battle Group Wales. Small nation big battlegroup and can we have a ship to fly the black flag. I will do with Glasgow and Belfast and form a Celtic Battlegroup.
What about an HMS ‘what’s occurring’ for a T31 to finish your battle group?
Talking of which, I’m surprised we’ve not had any of them formally named yet. I do hope they go for something fighty sounding even if the ships themselves are not
I know I have said it before on this site but I would really like to see the return of the old Type 14 names, the Blackwood class. They were all named after Nelsons Captains, his band of brothers, and you don’t get much more “fighty” than that !
I suppose its the message the government and RN wants to give out to the world, for example they could be the battle class and do we have enough battles to name ships after.
If they were to be named after Captains or Admirals then I would like to see one named after Adm Andrew Cunningham, if there was ever a fighting Admiral then he must come somewhere at the top of the list. So how about, Nelson, Hood, Cochrane, Cunningham, Rodney
I think the Battle class would be ideal for our new detached status from Europe. Agincourt would annoy the French, Camperdown the Dutch, Corunna the Spanish, Matapan the Italians and Jutland the Germans. Full house!
It would certainly please Daniele.
Not sure about Jutland but to kill two birds with one stone how about Falklands, that would annoy the Germans (1914) and the Argintinians (1982).
All in all I like the idea of a Battle Class, now we just need to get Government on board.
Good thinking on the Falklands, like Mel Brooks said when he made Blazing Saddles, if you are going to offend someone, offend everyone. Now how do we annoy the US?
HMS New York, after a naval battle 1815 where the RN captured the USS President, or possibly even a HMS Alabama, named after the CSS Alabama a commerce raider, built in secrecy in Liverpool for the Confederate States and played hell with the US Navy capturing or sinking 65 US ships over a two year period.
Take your pick.
Or we could try the Chesapeake, a large frigate taken by the very much smaller Shannon, off Boston I think.
The capture of USS President. I painted a picture of that action a few years ago. Admittedly I have never heard it refereed to as the ‘Battle of New York’. But obviously realise this action was fought off Sandy Hook, NY.. (apologies for shameless plug – there is nowhere else to see it) https://www.ebay.com/itm/USS-President-War-of-1812-limited-edition-10-print-USS-Constitution-interest-/183243488809
hmm, battle honours from these actions are already carried by some of the Type 23s : HMS Monmouth (‘the black duke’) was lost at Coronel.. meanwhile HMS Kent more or less avenged her loss very soon after at the Falklands.. and of course HMS Iron Duke.. in my opinion some of the best Royal Navy ship names would, by no means exclusively, include: Lion, Tiger, Renown, Repulse, Hood and Warspite.. then there are the names associated with various commands of famous officers like Nelson, for example Raisonnable, Boreas, Vanguard, Captain, Elephant, Agamemnon.. or of Hood: Zealous, Juno, or of Saumerez:… Read more »
? ! Lol
You’re welcome. ?
Although I gave some names to finish a CSG to finnish a CSG Wales, I think possibly Coomomwealth names would be good for the T31s, such as HMS Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Kenya, Jamaica etc. It gives room for a batch two, but it would show loyalty to the Commonwealth.
Typing errors Finish not finnished, Commonwealth not Coomomwealth. Finger issue and keyboard fight. Sorry.
Nah place names suck we need better names than London for our small fleet.
Personally I like that.
Now we are post-Brexit we should be reaching out to the Commonwealth more and this would be a nice touch.
Many WW2 cruisers with Commonwealth names served with distinction. The idea of using names of the Commonwealth could also serve a second purpose, possibly to man the ships or partialy man them with people from that nation. So an example would be HMS New Zealand could be manned by Kiwis etc.
Definitely possible. I think we need to boost numbers and looking at the Commonwealth is a good way to do that. Personally if it were my choice I’d also offer free automatic British passport to any Commonwealth citizen who serves in any of the British armed forces for 5 years.
I’d also look at making the Commonwealth a free trade organisation.
Like HMS Battle AXE or HMS Furious, and HMS indiscriminate, HMS Cockchafer lol that would be funny we did have one once and HMS Black HMS Broke and pansy…. but I bet we had so many ships we were running out of jokes I mean names.
HMS Black joke it meant to read!
HMS Spanker was another one.
When I think of some of the old names, especially for frigates, corvettes sloops I’m not sure but the PC brigade would go ballistic.
One way to upset your mother-in-law
HMS Mother in Law?
Cam Suggested HMS Battle Axe, that is why I thought it would upset the mother in law.
Haha!
Just imagining that now…
“It’s called the HMS Mother In Law, after you. It’s a frigate weighing 5,700 tons; a little less than you!”
Pretty sure the old T22 FF HMS Beaver was known affectionately by her crewmen as “Her Majesty’s Beaver”. Apparently a batch of Christmas cards so dedicated had to be hastily recalled because one was meant to be sent to Her Majesty ERII. (correct me if I am recalling this one wrong?)..
The trouble is some names are more exotic for some reason than others. I doubt we will get a HMS Wigan, or St Helens even or HMS Westhaughton or HMS Barnsley. So vast swaths of the country will never have a ship named after them.
Given that we are never going to get as many significant ships as say 28, then I would name ships after those that faught at Trafalger… and one of them could be called HMS Trafalgar.
I would also like to see a HMS Surprise!
That’s got to be a sub….surprising an enemy putting a Spearfish through it.
I’ve previously suggested a Weapon class, plenty of ‘fighty’ names and loads of historical links, howabout Battleaxe, Broadsword ,Claymore, Dagger, Rapier, Cutlass, Longbow, Tomahawk. All names used on previous RN ships.
Mounthshire, Glamorgan or possibly LLandaff.
Fair comment, but where then should the QE be twinned with?
That station with the longest name?
How about twinning it with ‘Splot’ ?
Didn’t know that you know Cardiff!
Ahhh…happy days at Cardiff University! Have to be the nicest people in the UK! Except, as an Englishman, when England are playing Wales!
What about a mountain class…. Cairngorm, snowdon, Scafell etc or a lakes class. Ness, Lomand, Windemere, Coniston, Neagh etc
as in her affiliated city? well, the last HMS Prince of Wales, battleship of the impressive KG5 class, which fought the Bismarck twice, was built on the Mersey at Cammell Laird. Seems apt to me.
Given QE is sailing in home waters, can we expect a photo opportunity of the two sailing together? what else is planned for this cruise – perhaps first landing of F35B on PoW?
Would I have like to see a photo op with the QE and PoW with Destroyers and frigates making a Carrier Battle Group, yes please. However as far as I know the QE is coming home, possibly is even at home. so it won’t happen yet. Pity
According to the shipping movements she is home and if I read it correctly is being turned around today after POW leaves.
Hmmm it might be better to wait until we have a couple of F35 squadrons to deploy on them. You can imagine some of the derisory press reports….
QE is currently alongside in Portsmouth, so it looks like the photo opportunity won’t happen… yet.
Any one know if she has sailed…..?
She has.
Thanks Lusty…..
The web cam on HMS Warrior is a good way to watch them come in and go out. http://www.hmswarrior.org/webcam
See link of POW leaving Pompey. Butt ugly but impressive in scale when viewed against to buildings. One very big piece of kit!
https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/hms-prince-wales-best-photos-royal-navy-carrier-leaves-portsmouth-1884332
Any idea on haw both QE and POW are currently manned? Kind of think there must be precious few personnel spare at the moment!