The Govan shipyard in Glasgow has reached a significant milestone with its new ‘frigate factory’—officially named the Janet Harvey Hall—now hosting its first ship block, belonging to HMS Belfast.
This marks a pivotal moment in modernising the UK’s naval shipbuilding capabilities and demonstrates the substantial £300 million investment by BAE Systems to enhance shipbuilding infrastructure on the River Clyde.
We don’t have any photos for you as, to be frank, the weather has been too poor in Glasgow but we hope to provide photos either directly or through BAE when possible.
Named in honour of Janet Harvey, who joined the Clyde shipyards as an electrician during World War II, the hall pays tribute to her trailblazing role in a male-dominated industry. Harvey’s legacy as a pioneer in shipbuilding was further recognised when she was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering by Glasgow Caledonian University at the age of 96. She passed away on Armistice Day in 2023, aged 101.
Paul Sweeney, Glasgow Labour MSP and a former BAE Systems shipyard employee, described the facility as a transformative development. “This new hall will probably become the largest building by enclosed volume in Glasgow, if not Scotland, and will make a dramatic impact on the Clydeside skyline,” he said. Sweeney also spoke on the competitive edge this facility brings, stating, “I hope that the competitive advantages it brings will help to reassert Glasgow’s global reputation for having shipbuilding capabilities that are of the highest quality.”
The Janet Harvey Hall is designed to accommodate the construction of two Type 26 frigates simultaneously, providing a controlled environment that shields the shipbuilding process from adverse weather conditions. This advancement overcomes historical constraints that prevented the construction of full ships longer than 75 metres under cover at Govan.
The construction of the facility has involved over 6,000 tonnes of steel and 20,000 cubic metres of concrete. Once fully operational, the hall will feature two 100-tonne cranes and two 20-tonne cranes, enabling up to 500 workers per shift to focus on frigate construction. The site is expected to sustain approximately 1,700 jobs in Scotland and 2,300 jobs across the wider UK supply chain, significantly boosting both the local and national economy.
This facility represents a transformative leap in the UK’s shipbuilding industry. It positions Glasgow at the forefront of naval construction, solidifying its role in delivering world-class vessels for the Royal Navy.
Jolly good! And hopefully ready just in time to build ships for Norway too!
Given the Norwegian’s desire for an early delivery of the first ship, it’s possible that Belfast will be diverted to them.
Out of interest, where has the steel for the building and shipbuilding been sourced from?
China.
Show your source and evidence!
Though a sense of humour is not required for viewing this site, it is beneficial.
British Steel was bought by leading Chinese multi-industrial company Jingye Group on 9 March 2020. [Source britishsteel.co.uk]
The Chinese are looking to close down the UK’s last blast furnaces while the government is reportedly offering £2bn of UK taxpayers money to keep Scunthorpe open. [source Financial Times, Nov ’24]
I’m not saying that’s where the steel came from for the JHH, but it’s not too outlandish a speculation.
Always nice to get some good Xmas news.
Interesting name….
Is there any truth in the rumour that the QE is being reduced to 6 months notice?
No nothings been mentioned. No hints have even been dropped.
Thanks Jim! I certainly believe you long before today’s tabloid carrying the headline…..
That tabloid article is riddled with errors, it says
• the carrier is named after the late QE 2
• that QE is bigger than PoW
• that they are “super carriers”
• that the Treasury was discussing scrapping both last month
and that’s just the glaringly obvious errors.
Which begs the question, why do you even bother to read this tabloid given it can’t get basic facts rights?
As far as I am aware, the QE class carrier is classed as a Super Carrier.
The rest I agree with.
It’s another leak to have come out of the review however the cost of reducing a major assett at 6 months readiness is a waste of resources and money. In essence and its QE we are talking about would be stripped of spares to keep POW going.
In plain English it means cutting the carriers to one.
Great news, I have to ask though considering the small investment this cost, what better position would we now be in if this was done ten years ago. It’s been one of the major benefits of the Type 31 program and getting Babcock into construction that BAE has had to up its game and put its hand in its pocket to invest in its own facilities. Hopefully they can secure an order from Norway otherwise we are not going to be keeping three surface yards going for long.
Indeed.
Whatever you think of T31 it forced BAE to up their game.
T31 and Babcock were Nature’s way of explaining to the MOD the reason why BAE chose to focus on the US market.
Yes we need two ship yards with surface vessel production lines..market forces and the private sector only work properly if you have natural competition..with no competition you’re better off going state owned..
Rubbish. Bae wanted to build extensive new facilities to build the T26 but the Treasury refused based on the initial order for just 3 ships.
As for “putting their hand in their pocket”, all such money come from the customer in one shape or another. The T31 contract financed the Rosyth building hall. In Bae’s case, being a T26 sole source suppliers, their contract is cost plus so every expenditure is subject to Treasury approval.
Do we know what length ships the hall can take?
I imagine a Type 83 would be longer than a Type 26, is there enough room to build a destroyer/cruiser under cover?
Thing is that until T83 FADS becomes more real it is a waste of resource constructing oversized build facilities.
There are margins to extend the hall both ways but history is littered with dry docks etc that were oversized and never properly utilised.
More rubbish.
I woukd have thought that Belfast would have been under construction for sometime now and that the two main hull sections would be rolled out and moved into the new building for joining/fitting out prior to launch? Or is Belfast being completely built/assembled in the new building?
Although the article does not specifically mention it, one would hope the facility can accommodate the construction of large vessels that frigates.
Nice. Looking forward to new photos in the near future. Thanks for the update.
They now need to be pushing all the funding needed to build hull’s quickly, we need to be joining the rest of the world and building and commissioning warships in 4/5 years not 9/10.
Quite frankly the whole escort fleet is going down such a hole, I would like them to now have 2 building in the new shed and if they can pay to bring in a bigger workforce have the old sheds running as well…if they want to supply Norway as well this will be pretty much a necessity unless we don’t mind running with almost no escorts.
any chance of having a T23 still running in 2030 is now looking slimmer and slimmer.( .have pissed away around two escorts worth of cash to keep each running an extra 6-7 years). So there needs to be a massive effort or the RN is going to be slipping down to 12 hulls for a long time even 11 if we sell one to Norway.
At preset build and commissioning rates all we will have is 3 Type 26s and 2 type 31s ( hull three has only just started with steel cutting and it’s a fantasy to think hulls 4 and 5 will be commissioned by 2030)..that means if the last T23s go the same way as every other T23 ( and why would they not) they will be going for 20300) and we sell one T26 to Norway the RN in 2030 will have
6 AAW destroyers
2 ASW frigates
3 GP frigates that cannot do ASW.
The simple really is they need to hammer the hell out of the T26 line use all the sheds and capacity they have, throw money at the problem and get to building all the 5 batch 2 frigates at the same time..hopefully getting them all launched between 2028-2030 and commissioned between 2030 and 2032. Because otherwise the RN is going to be spending a lot of time with only 2-3 ASW hulls..if you consider all the T23s have been scrapped 6-7 years after lifex by 2027/8 the RN will have 3 ASW frigates..and if it takes until 2032 to get 3 type 26s that’s will be half a decade with only 2-3 ASW frigates..