The bow section of future frigate HMS Birmingham has arrived on the River Clyde ahead of final assembly in Glasgow.
The large steel structure, which forms the forward section of the ship’s hull, was transported by sea from Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, one of several UK shipyards manufacturing major blocks for the Type 26 frigate programme.
Under the programme’s modular construction approach, large sections of each ship are built at different facilities around the UK before being transported to BAE Systems’ shipyard on the Clyde for final integration and assembly. Once lifted into position inside the company’s build hall at Govan, the bow block will be joined with the rest of the ship’s growing structure. From there, additional modules will continue to be added as the hull gradually takes shape.
The distributed build model is intended to allow work to continue on several vessels at once, with different shipyards producing major sections in parallel while assembly takes place in Glasgow. HMS Birmingham is the fourth Type 26 frigate under construction for the Royal Navy and follows HMS Glasgow, HMS Cardiff and HMS Belfast in the build sequence.
The Type 26 is being designed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, with a focus on acoustic quieting, endurance and advanced sensors. The ships are intended to escort carrier strike groups and track submarines in the North Atlantic and other operating areas.
While the arrival of a single hull section may appear a routine step in construction, it reflects the wider industrial effort behind the programme, with shipyards, suppliers and engineering teams across the UK contributing to the build of each vessel. Over the coming months at Govan, the structure of HMS Birmingham will continue to grow as further modules are integrated, gradually forming the Royal Navy’s next-generation frigate.
Good to see this, we are much better focusing on one or two assembly facilities with competitive block assembly at yards all around the country.
Costs more to build in bits scattered across the country which is why other countries don’t do it.
Some other countries do it. The original Iver Huitfeldts were built in blocks in the Baltics, then assembled and fitted out in Denmark. Cost comparisons are less relevant if you have no practical choice.
You do have a practical choice with a big yard like H&W or Rosyth.
H&W will have an idealised linear layout – which will be much more efficient than moving blocks around.
BAES didn’t invest early enough and so have to do things this way.
Building blocks made a lot of sense for QEC as there were plenty of yards that could contribute skilled labour – now those have been shuttered etc – and each block was a corvette’s worth of work.
Still no official announcement as to whether Birmingham will be transferred to Norway.
Given the state of the RN we’d be mad to. Every vessel in build needs to go straight to the RN
It’s good to see these incremental progress updates. They remind us to keep focussed on the prize, a fleet of brand new frigates. I’m looking forward to seeing news of Glasgow and Venturer sea trials replace the stream of dispiriting T23 retirement news.
People in general are now talking about the state of the Royal Navy in such a way as to acknowledge it requires urgent budget improvements. One possible way forward could be a national contract to ensure, by act of parliament, a new capital fighting ship is ordered every two years, regardless of which party is in power. The type of ship could vary depending on RN needs, but built it would be. The guarantee of a 24-month order would allow a constant feed to UK shipyards and maintain a stream of new vessels without large gaps in skills and experience for yard employees and new kit for navy crews.