Originally appeared at ZeroHedge
It triggered embarrassing headlines across the globe late last week and over the weekend: “Britain’s new multi-billion aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth was forced to cut short sea trials this week after springing a leak,” reported CNN.
It was the “future flagship” of the Royal Navy’s fleet, and embarked from Portsmouth for sea trials last month, but then a leak so severe that it reached “neck-high” in some flooded parts of the ship forced a hasty return to its Portsmouth base.
HMS Queen Elizabeth, via Global Look Press
“Following a minor issue with an internal system on HMS Queen Elizabeth, the ship’s company were required to remove a small volume of water from the ship,” a Royal Navy spokesperson said. “An investigation into the cause is underway.”
The “minor issue” involved a whopping 250 tons of water (66,000 gallons) flooding two compartments and a stairwell inside the 65,000-ton warship.
A number of UK media reports said the cause was a likely high-pressure sea water pipe which burst. Days following the incident, which was first revealed middle of last week, the Royal Navy reported that the ship’s hull remained undamaged and that all the water was successfully pumped out.
“During her time out of the water, 284 hull valves were changed, both rudder blades were removed and cleaned, her sea inlet pipes were inspected, all sacrificial anodes were replaced and a renewed coat of anti-foul paint was applied to the ship’s bottom,” a Royal Navy press release described further.
HMS Queen Elizabeth: Water leak on aircraft carrier 'neck-high' https://t.co/qGAu3LXYw6
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 11, 2019
The Royal Navy calls the Queen Elizabeth as well another carrier still under construction, the HMS Prince of Wales, “the largest and most advanced warships ever built for the Royal Navy.”
The ship has reportedly been plagued by other mechanical issues such as a shaft seal leak resulting the ship taking on 200 liters of water every hour, as well as sprinklers being falsely triggered in an aircraft hangar, according to the BBC.
Also interesting is that its captain was removed last May due to misuse of a British Defence Ministry vehicle, the BBC reported.
Aren’t these faults and problems normal in sea trials of all modern navies anyway? What is the big deal. I have no great love for the British but fair is fair.
Yup my sentiment as well. Shit happens, im glad all sailors involved got out unharmed.
Now time to bitch at the engineers!
True. Anything new this complicated will experience some birthing problems and defects that need fixing. This is why trial runs are always done, to seek them out and fix them. This is why its always so laughable in Hollywood films to have the hero take an untested prototype and utterly assrape the enemy with it as it performs exactly as promised. Imagine doing that in real life, with something like the F-35? They’re still working out some of its problems. Let alone taking one to war with the very first prototype unit straight out of production.
I suspect this article is just taking these to be expected incidents in an attempt to ridicule the UK. Ridicule the UK for its PC policies, the Brexit debacle and its slavish subservience to the US. And it would be so easy to do so. This in contrast is just grasping at straws.
no when a ship is delivered it shall be seaworthy (from a legal point of view and a practical one as well) and thus leaks and other mishaps are entirely out of contract. just shoddy construction and a loss of the required craftmanship in the industry as has been amply demonstrated over the last 25 to 30 years when deliveries of ships to the navy have been dogged by faults and expensive but unpractical technical solutions.
US and UK publish so much propaganda and fake news against their own oppositions that finally either remove them from power with assassination, by military coup or by civil war. This is a huge crime. You can observe their forces in Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen etc etc. They have rip these all countries apart. This is obviously a clear global terrorism.
Any country that has navy warships, aircraft carriers, submarines are all criminals and global terrorists. There should be an international law to ban all these vassals in international water.
When will the Trump apologize to the people of Palestine, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen etc and even to the Office of the UN, for the foul language that he has used, and the terrible things that Trump and John Bolton have said. So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!”
Why stop? When he can his name mentioned, and get free advertisements like this?
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/D89DCK/throwing-money-down-the-drain-D89DCK.jpg
It’s hard to motivate the Military Industrial Complexes to produce quality equipment when they know realistically that their countries face no real threat and their only motivation is money, lot’s of money.
Yes and faulty equipment requires even MORE money to correct.
When it is designed to bankrupt customers the only way to sell it is by corruption or at the point of a gun.
A fitting carrier for the F-35.