The hull of HMS GLASGOW, a Type 26 Frigate in build for the Royal Navy is starting to look shipshape.
You can now stand inside T26 as thees come together and get a real sense of HMS GLASGOW as she takes shape @RoyalNavy @DefenceES @BAES_Maritime pic.twitter.com/Keg8juYnd0
— Christopher Gardner (@VAdmCGardner) April 17, 2019
Below is an image showing one of the internal compartments, click on the above tweet to see it in better quality.
The Type 26 represents the future backbone of the Royal Navy and eight of the class are planned, starting with HMS Glasgow. The UK Government say they are committed to eight of the type, this was outlined in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
The Type 26 programme currently employs more than 1,200 people in the UK supply chain, with a number of contracts already in place for the manufacture of major equipment for the first three ships. In total, there are already 33 UK and international companies working in the supply chain to deliver the Type 26 ships.
Admiral Sir Philip Jones, First Sea Lord said when the name of the first vessel was revealed:
“The Clyde was the birthplace of some of the greatest fighting ships the world has ever known and so cutting steel there today for the future HMS Glasgow is symbolic of a Royal Navy on the rise once again.Â
As an island nation, we are utterly dependent on the sea for our security and prosperity and the City-class names have been chosen for the Type 26 to provide an enduring link between the Royal Navy and our great centres of commerce and industry.
The name Glasgow brings with it a string of battle honours, stretching from the Arctic Circle to the South Atlantic.”
It will be the ninth HMS Glasgow in the Royal Navy’s history, dating back to 1707.
nice to see her taking shape..
Looks GREAT! Now add a few more to the class…
Cheers!
Absolutely, or that is what I believed we should do to ensure a global navy post Brexit. Now that the concept of a ‘Global Britain’ may be less free to trade internationally, than we first thought; maybe the 26/31 planned fleets will be about right? I just wish we could build warships quicker and get them commissioned sooner.
Key word there….free!
Freedom Is currently on hold, until our Masters have worked out a way to Manipulate Democracy In their favour.
Yeah how about the actual number that was planned…or how about 16 just like the number of type 23s we did have…. but we do actually need general purpose frigates for the tasks not Needing destroyers or heavy frigates, how about corvettes….black swan sloops, or just 10 type 31s would actually do nice.
Sold!
I will take the 10 T31 and keep 6 T45 and T26 for their core role.
Can sell you 10-12 project 20385 Corvettes, same price as what the UK plans to spend on 5 type 31 ?
Morning Ulya.
I am not one to judge warships, we have plenty of experts here for that with the relevant experience.
To my ignorant eye they look good, typically well armed for a Russian vessel, but only 2500 tonnes with 4,000 range?
T31 bigger I think?
$150 million per ship? Pheew.
Good afternoon Daniele, yes, I think the type 31 will be bigger, and the range will be better, it suits UK needs better, armament will be about the same as 20385, UK ships always seem under armed to me but I am not sure expert in ships. Looking forward to see what design is picked
Just for the record Ulya, It’s not me downvoting your posts.
Tis very exciting. Shame we are not getting the 12/16 we need….
now all we want to hear now is the latest on the type 31 project(if it ever actually happens,, on which i have my doubts)
get a bloody move on and get it built!
HMG do not wish it to be built quickly, nice and slow saves a few quid now, who cares if it will end up costing more in a decade or so.
Well, Whoever Downvoted that, really needs to Take a look at themselves. I’m with you there Jonathan .
Who the hell downvotes what makes sense on here…
All those who just -10’d you Cam. Hi guys!
Trolls, Probably a multi Account holder or holders. They tend to be Passive Aggressive types with attention seeking mental disorders. Having the downvote facility makes them feel good.
Your -11 score is particularly odd though as you don’t appear to be argumentative or Controversial so I’d just Ignore it.
It’s new and the kids love playing games, hopefully they will eventually get bored… Though not just yet as you can/will see.
Totally.
Was done in 2009 for the carriers, added 1 billion I read.
Astute was also slowed, I read the costs incurred were enough to buy an eighth boat.
They are happy for it to be a future governments problem.
Criminally irresponsible.
That’s Britains future planning for you, as we found with pensions, keep leaving it to others till it’s a far worse a situation and more expensive and difficult to sort but hey ‘that’s not our problem’. The ountries seldom comes before party politics sadly. With the ships I guess keeping the yards occupied over a given period is to them an easier answer than producing it all quicker, more efficiently and ultimately cheaper. Our industry is haunted by these problems mostly because they are so reliant on defence work and as. Result too often a single client.
I agree. Down votes are probably kids with dads working in the MOD.
Apparently, The latest Glue takes a lot longer to “Go Off”.
“A Royal Navy On the rise again”.
Sorry Sir Phillip, can you Clarify what you are actually Stating here ? Is It Technology, Numbers, Ability, Capability, Costs ? I’m confused.
It is deliberate waffle Captain.
All the Chiefs of Staff have been infected with it since the mid 90’s.
The admirals and generals are truly yes men now! There are too many politicians and civil servants running the services, the civilians outweigh the admirals on the admiralty board! By a lot!
I know civil servants are needed etc, but when they basically completely run the show that’s not good! It seems the admirals aren’t willing to properly defend their services as well and when cuts happen they call it making the forces more ‘streamlining’.
Remember kids, you don’t become first sea lord with raising your head!
That is pretty much how I see it too. I remember reading one excuse from one of the CAS for cuts being almost word for word the same as another speech by a previous incumbent in an earlier defence review.
They all complain after they leave. They have pensions to arrange after all, and juicy consultancies or jobs on the boards of the very Military Industrial Complex companies fleecing the MoD on a yearly basis.
They are all just Common Purpose automatons nowadays .
Yes, but waffles are yummie.
Yes they are.
Funny how certain Posters are Absent tonight, Funny how the Downvoters are here though.
Funny that.
LOL.
Ha, Thought so.
We had Downvoters on a previous Forum, They Spent hours and hours sat there in the dark, Fuming at all the popular Posters, tapping away at the Down vote option.
We let them Accumulate their Tally over a pretty long period of time Safe behind anonymity.
It’s a far nicer place now though.
It is a bit daft. If someone disagrees then debate. I was down voted on another thread for suggesting we build nurse training colleges and pay nurses far better than we do.
And the issue with that is?
I then suggested getting migration under control as another excellent way of relieving pressure on public services.
That went down like a lead balloon too.
They obviously have better ideas?
Nurse training colleges isn’t a bad idea but at the same time there are lots of institutions already offering nursing training and as far as I’m aware (happy to be proved wrong) there isn’t a shortage of training places but an issue with retention. Which better pay may help so agree with you on pay. On immigration don’t necessarily think they’re the ones putting burden on public services, immigrants typically, not always, tend to be younger and therefore on average are less of a burden on public services like NHS. Ageing population is a bigger burden on NHS. Yes immigration… Read more »
Morning Robert Thank you. Happy to discuss. My suggestion of Nurse Training colleges was along the lines of Corbyn’s suggestion of a national education service. I concede I know nothing on where or how our nurses are trained. I am aware plenty come from abroad, as migrants. So why can we not train more of our own, pay them well to attract, in formal, regional centres? That was my thinking. As I have conceded many times, yes an ageing population is also a major issue, migration is only adding to it. “immigrants typically, not always, tend to be younger and… Read more »
Definitely needs to be a change in pay for nurses. In terms of immigrants bringing family the rules in place by government are reasonably stringent. One of principle being have to be financially able to support self with reliance on public services. (see as a parent section: https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/parent). Housing wise I agree not enough built, and I feel part of that requires a culturally change. Even excluding immigration are population is growing, as disappointing as it is, its no longer sustainable for everyone to expect a semi-detached with a garden etc. We need to accept more people will need to… Read more »
Thank you Robert1 It is thoroughly refreshing to discuss an issue where we stand on differing political viewpoints and not let things descend into a slanging mach which often happens elsewhere due to lack of respect of another’s view. Thank you. Could not agree more concerning your paragraph on MP’s side expenses, fiddling second homes, and all the rest. I myself work on the railways and I find your comments on railways and freight common sense, and totally beneficial to our roads and the environment! In days past most town stations had a freight yard, now most have had industrial… Read more »
So when will we be full who will decide that ?
Define full? We’ve certainly got shit loads of land left. Infrastructure see my discussion about chronic under investment by government in it.
Your rubbish is why I rarely bother to post on here. Spurious statements, rambling bile and no substance.
“Shitloads of land left” so where do you want to build The Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District,Dartmoor how about the Cotswolds,do you really want to live in a country paved over with concrete and bloody poxy shoddily built housing estates as for high rise apartments you really mean tower blocks ever lived in a tower block you know one built by the council in the sixties and seventies which degenerated into hell hoies within a few years ,lifts not working ,druggies next door,stinking piss stains in the stairwell i’ve seen it lived it thank Christ i worked hard enough and… Read more »
I was being facetious in saying shit loads of land after being slightly hacked off at being called a cheeky wee prick. No I don’t propose concreting over national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. However, there do of course need to be affordable houses/flats built in these areas so young local people don’t feel pushed out by house prices driven up by more wealthy people moving in/2nd homes. However, there is still lots of land which could be utilised for sensible modern affordable housing. I grew up in the North of England and was surrounded by disused mills… Read more »
Others don’t seem to agree but I actually think this is a very valid question we need to be asking despite the fact it is not PC to do so as in all reality anything else environmentally is simply tinkering with symptoms an delaying the inevitable destruction of this planet. I was told when at school in the 60s this country could fully probably support about 40 odd million people in a relative self sufficient to manner. Today despite all the advancements I would estimate that figure has increased in all honesty not a lot. So we are already well… Read more »
I think Spy’s comment is correct. Stuff the PC! It is a valid question to ask how many more people a country the size of the United Kingdom can take and all the infrastructure requirements and social consequences that brings.
In this PC world these valid questions are shouted down. Well, they need answering.
Until they are the problem will not go away. My prediction?
Can kicked down road by any government in power who never have the BALLS to say enough is enough.
Could you give me a time when i should present myself to Dignitas i am 56 what would you suggest maybe 67 then the government won’t have to pay for my old age pension which i have contributed to for the last 40 bloody years you cheeky little prick.
Did I once say present yourself to dignitas? Did I once say you shouldn’t have your pension?
You didn’t refute any arguments, present evidence, make suggestions, and resorted to “cheeky little prick”. Bravo, reckon you should just retire now, you’ve got the grumpy old git persona down to a tee.
As for your global warming and CO2 BS were you one of those adults with the brainwashed muppet schoolkids that were in Plymouth city centre the other day if you were hope you got my message loud and clear.
Hello Daniele and Robert. Nice to meet you. I cannot comment about transport and housing however when it’s comes to nursing I do have a few opinions? I don’t believe nursing educational centres are needed, the university system is very good at producing well educated and knowledgeable nurses. They need experience but so do most professions when first started. I remember those days well. If the nursing crisis is to be remedied the big issue is money. Pay newly qualified nurses the same as newly qualified teachers (it’s about a considerable difference, not in the nurses favour) and offer nursing… Read more »
Hi James. Thank you.
Ok, allow me to start by saying that nurses are NOT overpaid, however, your argument is somewhat simplistic. Nurses have a highly structured career pathway which has several years of incremental pay rises at each new level in addition to the annual national pay rise. (Most nurses thus receive 2 pay rises per year and if they are ambitious and successful this equates to a highly financially beneficial career as there are a multitude of opportunities for promotion throughout the NHS) If, however, you stay forever in one place as a staff nurse, you will not benefit from the incremental… Read more »
Hello Detek. Thank you for your comments. To be honest I think the comments about pay increases being twice a year are incorrect. Nurses were hit by salary hold put in place by the previous government. Admittedly we were some of the first to get a pay increase after they lifted the freeze but if you look at salaries for nurses they actually fell in real terms from an already low base. Also I work for the NHS (I am on duty today, on a break) and I don’t get any additional money for nights, weekends or bank holidays. We… Read more »
Biggest error was making nursing an exclusively degree led occupation. Training needs flexibility to match the job itself who seriously wants to put in the time, cost and effort to gain a degree and then be expected to sort bedpans. You need to cater for various levels of nursing from basic support to highly qualified and thus a flexible intake with opportunities for those wanting to specialise and progress as well as those who are happy to stay at a more basic level. Trouble in this country we far too often prefer to impose certification, ticks and banners in place… Read more »
Married to a community nurse sister (soon to be a District nurse), she has students who now receive no bursary, there is no longer a diploma option, (often taken up by many mature students) only a degree route, the degree course is horrendous the placement workload along with the course work mean that it is almost impossible to take a part time job like many students, placements can often be miles away from home which again adds to costs, we are screaming out for nurses yet it has been made way harder to get into nursing than even 10 years… Read more »
Nurses do not need degrees.
Marc, sorry but anyone going into nursing now needs a nursing degree FACT. The traditional 2 route Diploma or degree disappeared about 12 months ago. You can become a carer, HCA or even an associate nurse but to be a RN you must now have a degree, the nursing Diploma disappeared along with the bursary system, i have spent more years than i care to remember surrounded by nurses trust me on this one if want to be an RN you now need a nursing degree
Spot on. Degrees are considered the answer to everything because the political classes judge themselves as the epitome of what’s right and successful in this world and the days when a real mix of people entered Parliament is long gone. Thus their answers are generally one dimensional and often out of touch with the realities of life and work. The Brexit debate has shone a real light on this failure and society becomes a reflection of that failure. New and better ideas will rarely come out of that building and environment so intwined with tradition for its own sake, privilege,… Read more »
My first post here, regular reader of the site. Hello to all. Unfortunately nurse retention is an issue but so is the cost of training now. I am a nurse and there is no way I would have spent £50k training (the approx cost of tuition fees and accommodation now) knowing that I would earn less than £20k a year in my first post. The government (both this and previous governments) have been told for years of the shortage of nurses and have done nothing to reverse the trend. Asking nurses to work in difficult conditions and unsocial hours while… Read more »
Our daughter seems to be a real sucker for punishment she is considering going into nursing but has applied to the RN for their student nurse program
I admire anyone going into either profession, your daughter is doing them both. Hats off.
Thanks James coming from a family with a proud Military and NHS background we are really proud of her, her great grandfather who she adored served on HMS Warspite and Colossus and her mother and auntie are both RN’s
I worked abroad for years with no problems as long as i did the paperwork there was no problem what will be the problem post Brexit.(if it happens)
For the past 40 years, I’ve heard the same arguments, Makes me wonder why anyone would want to be a Nurse.
Or put another way, The various Governments of the last 40 years have just Ignored the amazing contributions and sacrifices that Nurses have made.
Same as those who are willing to lay down their lives.
Hello Captain W. I agree completely, service personnel should be paid more, what they do adds to safety and security of the UK massively. And it’s about time the government stopped penny pinching equipment wise. Various recent governments sent them to war woefully ill equipped. Snatch Land Rovers that were useless against IEDs. SA80A1’s that regularly jammed and broke. The proposal to remove the cannon from the Eurofighter. Type 45 missing their 12 VLS Strike launchers. The list goes on. As Brexit has shown governments do what’s good for them. Rant over ?
How the hell can someone mark you down for that common sense post. Beyond comprehension.
Good to see but damn, two years to get to that, the hull should be much further by now! But I know the mod are slowing the time frame due to budget constraints but we need these in the water fast, within reason, oh and another 8 wouldn’t do an harm either?
To quote an old saying from a previous Naval project:
“We want eight and we won’t wait!”
Agree that more hulls should be considered.
I have yet to see a Photo or Video of people busy at work on a type 26. Maybe they are on a 3 day week?
Given that HMS Queen Elizabeth has just gone into dry dock for hull inspection due to being in the water for 5 years. Will HMS Glasgow be dry docked even before she is handed over to the RN as it’s reported that she will spend 6 years fitting out…
QNLZ is docked after 5 years due to the Nacy deciding to build to Lloyd’s standards which mandate docking every 5/6 years, believe done slightly early to fit in with plan for class aviation trials. Article on covered pretty well what will be undertaken during the docking period. As for type 26 if they are built to Lloyd’s standards (not sure on that one) then yes if they sit in water for 6 years its likely a dry dock period pre sea trials maybe required. Lloyd’s maybe flexible with this depending on the conditions she is kept in during at… Read more »
Maybe they find things stick on more easily if they are rust pitted?
Glad our Australian Government has selected 9 of these Frigates for our Navy.
More than the mother country, it’s insane, and Canada is gonna buy 15(apparently).
Anyway, very good choice, hopefully we’ll work alongside more often now we are doing more in the Far East!
Canada has already “bought” 15 LM/BAE Type 26 CSC ship variants of your GCS which “will” be built in Canada with Canadian Steel, Canadian Jobs, Canadian money ($61-70B CAD),Canadian know-how and mostly Canadian/American weapons and sensor systems that will serve Canada and the world well into the 21st century. You have designed a great Frigate (Destroyer?) UK. Be proud of that, and let’s get on with it!! Who knows, our first one may be in the water and operational before HMS Glasgow? Cheers!
Good morning gentlemen. Would it not make more sense to scrap the Type 31 programme altogether and produce half a dozen additional Type 26 hulls? There must be huge economies available in a. the larger run and b. deleting the tooling and design needs for another type-particularly such a small number? Even if the last six were stripped down assets-dare I use the phrase” built for but not with..”? At the same time upgrade the batch 2 OPV’s? The net effect would be a stronger fleet at a minimal cost.
How many signatures do you need for Parliament to debate a petition?
I ask because with May refusing to announce the Queen’s speech, Parliament have precious little to debate and the state of the RN would be a good topic.
Good morning Geoff. Personally I would LOVE to see more Type 26’s added to our order. But as far as I understood it, the type 31 was designed with two things in mind. 1 – To retain the 13 frigates (if in numbers only, not necessarily in capability) 2 – To support the national ship building strategy (bear with me) The type 31 isn’t just for our own fleet, but for the export market too. Historically nations with smaller budgets like Brazil and Chile would purchase our older vessels. As the number of frigates we own is decreasing each generation,… Read more »
Geoff, the only reason for the Type 31 in the first place is because the budget won’t stretch to the 13 Type 26 that were originally planned. What makes sense to you and I won’t sway the bean counters, I’m afraid.
Thanks Matt and Dan for replies. As long as the Type 31 can attract more orders then makes sense to appeal to two markets
At the moment the 1.25 billion or something like that for the 5 T31 equates to 1 T26 adding R&D and the rest, I think?
So not sure where half a dozen are coming from for the T31 budget.
T31 for me is all about more mass, more hulls in the water conserving our first rate ships for other tasks.
I do not think more T26 will be built given their costs. If anything I fear the class will end up at 6 to save money and more T31 will be bought instead.
Howsit Daniele. I was thinking more along the lines of running off 6 extra hulls-basically shells. In theory this should spread the setup costs of the hull and generate savings. The ships could then be split, to use a motoring analogy into base models and top of the range XLS models with the bases being upgradeable if ever the need/money was available, but as you say 1,25 billion would not do it. In fact it looks less likely that this would be enough even for the Type 31’s! And then we spend 4 Billion on preparing for a No Deal… Read more »
Hi Geoff. It is sunny here in Surrey though probably not a patch on Durban!
Understood on the Hulls.
I know nothing on the technicalities of building ships! The high costs I believe are due to the quietness of the type which I assume includes the hull as well as machinery?
Maybe one of the experts here on ship design could comment on the feasibility?
Morning Daniele, Apart from the material build, there would also be the recruitment cost for manning any new ‘unplanned’ vessels too.
If an extra 1.25 billion came into the budget, I have a feeling it would be used to offset the current hole (7 billion?). Dreadnaught will more than likely soak up much of any new funds before any new ships are built.
Although… saying that, the news about converting tankers into mobile Special Forces bases was a total surprise to say the least!
Morning Matt
The 1.25 billion ( or similar ) money I quoted I believe is existing money earmarked for 5 T31 out of the Ships budget, not new money.
So yes, remaining at 13 Frigates. Interesting how with each defence review and each new cut in numbers, the new low becomes the benchmark, as if 13 is enough.
I myself am a big fan of the T31 / upgraded Rivers idea and also the Littoral Strike Ships, though they are all a bit vague. I think they will end up as conversions akin to the existing US examples.
Looks like the welding hasn’t improved much since the type 23’s
That’s OK we know Loctite is the preferred method of fastening at BAe 🙂
To be fair, Loctite is better than PrittStick….
Good to see that the construction is coming along but why is it so slow. HMS Dreadnought the battlewagon took a year to build with no automation, no robots to help, no computers and no armour plate 10inchs thick to man handle. More to my confusion is why will it take six years to fit out, before I started studying naval history I was a communication infrastructure engineer,(ex Royal Signals) and worked on projects all over the world. We rebuilt the complete national network of the Czech Republic in five years, 25% of Poland in three and a special communications… Read more »
Sir John Parker report gives some insights as to why its taking so long. Quote below, in a nutshell BAe are inefficient, other yards that compete for commercial work are more efficient and the government doesn’t have the experience to manage BAe. Industrial strategy BAE Systems (BAES) BAES’ Govan and Scotstoun sites are the only UK shipyards currently used to design build and commission a sophisticated naval warship. This is currently an exclusive position held under the Terms of Business Agreement between BAES and MOD. The shipyard effectively only undertakes work for the Ministry of Defence, and lacks the diversity… Read more »
Hey Ron-how about the average build on Liberty Ships of 42 days!!!!
Geoff, didn’t want to push it to much.
🙂
Maybe not the best example I used the liberty ships in a case study covering crack propagation in brittle and stressed materials many moons ago, the speed of the development meant some serious design flaws were not highlighted, product development can be a minefield although there should be lessons learned from the T45 one would think.
Good points Pete-the Liberty Ships were of course Crisis management at its best and as such flaws were inevitable. The record for one build was 4 and a half days!!!
Flaws aside a fantastic feat of manufacturing
Ron – to be honest I was more optimistic about HMS Glasgows progress watching the recent Michael Portillo programme than I am looking at these pictures.As to the way the ships are being built I would have thought a parallel/concurrent method would have made more sense for the ordered 3,perhaps the first of class,being a prototype has to be effectively completed before work can start on the others so any problems and issues that are discovered can be rectified instead of repeating the process.
Paul, after recent happenings with Astute and Batch 2 River Class, I think you have a very valid point. Even HMS Prince Of Wales has Incorporated lessons learnt from HMS Queen Elizabeth.
When my dad was in the mob I can remember devonport so full of warships. Leander’s,21s,22s,42s, survey ships. It’s a sadsight now in guz. We need these boats built quicker.
Can some one please tell me how long will it take to build the Tape 26 From start to Finish cos we need the ships now 4 or 5 years till all 8 is built its no good 1n the 2030’ts we need them soon we could get hit by the 30ts come does any one no how long will it take to be ready
As a comparison,the First Italian Navy PPA Frigate was launched on the 15th of this month,work starting at about the same time as HMS Glasgow.Paolo Thaon di Revel will start sea trials in October this year and be accepted into service in 2021.This is not some jumped – up OPV,it is a modern 6000+ Tonne Ship,first of class with similar numbers planned as the T26.
Lovely to see, can’t wait until she sets sail…as with the others. We need the protection