New imagery shows HMS Venturer, the first of the Royal Navy’s five Type 31 frigates, in position atop submersible barge CD01 at Rosyth ahead of her float-off.
The vessel is due to be moved shortly to a nearby location where the barge will be submerged, allowing Venturer to enter the water. After this, she will be brought back to Rosyth for the next phase of fitting out.
This is the same barge that previously handled the float-off of both HMS Glasgow and HMS Cardiff, highlighting the role of CD01 in the shipbuilding logistics chain across both the Type 26 and Type 31 programmes.
www.davecullenphotography.co.uk
© Dave Cullen Photography 2025
The barge itself, one of the largest of its kind in Europe, was originally converted for this purpose by Malin Abram and Augustea with support from Hat-San. It can accommodate large warships over 130 metres in length and submerges gradually to allow for a controlled float-off process. Once Venturer is afloat, she will return to Rosyth for systems installation, outfitting, and commissioning work.
This launch method—while not a conventional slipway launch—represents a flexible and efficient approach that aligns with the modular production strategies underpinning both the National Shipbuilding Strategy and Babcock’s Arrowhead 140-based design.
Images of the operation were captured by Dave Cullen and are reproduced here with permission.
www.davecullenphotography.co.uk
© Dave Cullen Photography 2025
Who needs slipways when you can now build them in nice giant sheds, roll them out on oooje flatbed trucks, load onto barge, tug up the river, sink barge, tug into dry dock and spend years finishing off in the open ?
T83, “We’re going to need a bigger barge”. (oh and shed, oh and truck).
My understanding the Far Eastern shipyards build their ship in the ‘factory’ from modules designed to be as complete as far as possible before assembly in the shipyard halls before launching on ship lifts and they spend less than a year fitting out after launch decreasing their build times and costs, do not spend years finishing off in the open.
I was just about to ask about that, this seems to be close to its maximum if 130 metres is the limit. Lock two together perhaps.
Dunno, but If It weren’t tax payers money, It might have been better to build the sheds over the dry docks ?
Hey, WTF do I know anyway.
They might be Yokels but them North Devon boys sure knew how to build ships.
Seems a very expencive way of launching a ship, why can we not build our ships today that by a deep enough river or bay to conventionally launch them, seems a huge waste of money to me
Don’t be silly, that’s the old fashioned way, we have seriously well educated people driving this incredible new state of the art world class shipbuilding capability.
I heard that Furgason Marine have been given a contract to build “at least” 12 new cutting edge, state of the art world class super dooper barges before the RN gets sold down the river.
They are also building a brand new hall up “Shit Creek” and dredging a channel to get there but the coracols are missing their padles which might cause delays.
Maybe we could loan it to North Korea, for when it launches the next boat 😀😀
Now then, they couldn’t possibly have known that chucking a frigate off the dock into the sea would be difficult, it’s never been done before….
Perhaps we did in a fiendishly clever ruse.
Interesting that they have to take her below the bridges, presumably to find deep enough water to submerge the barge. The ship looks good, it will be interesting to watch how swiftly the fitting out goes, is there any projected date for sea trials. Also to compare the time with Glasgow on the Clyde, although it is not exactly like for like.
Well fitting out is stated to take 9 months then hand over to the RN for sea trials within 12. Babcock have done the business, give them another 5 to build but with revised equipment fit. Bow sonar, torpedo defence suite, medium calibre gun for NGS ideally 127mm
” More, You want more ?”
Here here! Give Babcock a further order for T31B and tell them to build another five at least.
When I served in the RN in the 1960s and 70s there were 27 leander clas frigates aline and more Rothsy and whitby class amongst others, but that when we had a fleet and before the know it all starting doing all the year on year cuts.
Naval gunfire support in this decade is dead, you think when even the Houthis can send out USVs with enough explosives to sink huge merchant vessels in a single strike the last thing you want to be doing is sailing 10km off shore to drop a few 127mm shells on a target. There’s a reason the RN wants as many MK-41 silos on the new vessels as they can get and is rushing the land attack version of FCASW into service this decade. Look at what happened to Moskva when she dropped shells on Snake Island.
127mm guns can have 100km range with guided rounds.
Certainly the new rocket or jet assisted rounds will be required to keep them relevant into the next decade. Problem is these are specialist precision ordinance and not I presume recommended for large mass use.
Threats still come in many layers, just like the ships are having many defensive layers.
“We will no longer build fighters, Missiles are the future”.
D Sandys, many decades ago.
Yeah ! That’s what they thought when they built the Bristol, all long range .issiles, but then taken down to the Falklands in 1982 and found d to be useless
Absolutely, we need 4 more T26 and another 5 or more T31.
I’m not sure I would bother with a 5″, stick to the ferocious 57mm and twin 40mm mounts, it’s more relevant than ever, as we face mass drone attacks.
We certainly meed to load em up with missiles via mk41 silos and dragon fire systems.
How are we crewing 9 more ships
By sorting out retention and a modest upping of personnel.
T31 and T26 both have lower manning requirements than the outgoing T23, so it wouldn’t be a great stretch.
A ‘sensible’ size fir tbe RN should be 33 escorts.
12x T26
12xT31
9x T45/83
That should read across to an active fleet of 21/23 escorts at any one time and allow for full RN Carrier Strike (6 escorts) plus our other commitments, without breaking the Navy.
I think the government will be forced to raise spending to 3.5% by 2030, 2.5% is already looking totally inadequate to the task.
Labour and the Tories only have themselves to blame, defence only requires the really substantial investment and reform, because of 35 years of serious neglect by both parties.
Give it a rest.
Agreed – we should reward success
Impressive how quickly Babcock has delivered this ship. CEO says fitting out will take 6-9 months.
It looks possible that she will be commissioned before HMS Glasgow.
BAE should take note. The fitting out of the T26 ships seems painfully slow.
There’s more to fit on a T26, of course.
“T26 is more complex” is no excuse.
BAE are a bigger company globally.
The shipyards that BAE own and run have had the monopoly on RN orders for decades
5 – 6 years from steel cut to commission should be the aim.
“BAE should take note. The fitting out of the T26 ships seems painfully slow.”
When the Type 45s were built it was on average only 11 months between each ship entering service. Frankly HMG and HMT are the culprits here, leaving it far too late to order the T26s and letting the skills dwindle. Look at how much we had to pay for the Batch 2 Rivers just to keep the BAE yards in Scotland open.
If sanity had prevailed we would have received Type 45 hulls 7 and 8, with work commencing on T26 in 2014/2015.
Great to see she/he has already had her/his name painted.
“HMS Dave Cullen”.
“Imagines Capio”
Great looking ship, large and spacious with plenty of room for future upgrades and capability when funding permits .She’s also got ‘presence’ , ideal for her envisaged roles. ‘ My only major concern is that these pictures confirm that her initial CAMM fit will only be 12 in two silos of six and not the 18 or 24 for which we all hoped. Why oh why do we have to be so unambitious me asks. 24 CAMM would have allowed her to take on the forward presence escort role in the Gulf currently fulfilled by Lancaster a type 23 GP I believe and her greater CAMM load out of 32 has already proven effective when put to the test. . Arguably Venturers gun fit of 57mm plus 2 x modern 40mm is arguably better suited to the Houti threat but with only 12 CAMM I wouldn’t be rushing to put it to the test. I believe Lancaster also has NSM?
So to be fair, what I know about shipbuilding, you could probably put on the back of a cigarette packet, and still have room for the lords prayer.
That said… why not build a big ‘shed’ close to water, build ship in ‘shed’, complete ship in big ‘shed’, and launch the damn thing when its finished… yes/no?
Dunno Tom.What does teddy 🧸 say?😁👋🕳️ btth.
Teddy says… wow what a palaver!
Lovely sight. Thanks George and team for your efforts 👍👌🙃🕳️🇬🇧btth.
Wonder if we could sell some up armoured air defence variants to the Danes, just to replace their Iver Huitfelds?
Thanks George for all updates. She looks fine but you cannot please everyone.
Slightly OT but I predict an article about the T83 here soon.
“Look into my eyes, tell me what you see ?”
Alternatively you could look on The News in Portsmouth.
A halfwit