Construction began on the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers, their largest ever warships, today with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal performing the initial steel-cutting for the first of the ships. The steel-cutting ceremony took place at BVT Surface Fleet’s shipyard in Govan, today, Tuesday 7 July 2009.
The Queen Elizabeth (QE) Class carriers, together with the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and the brand new Type 45 destroyers, will form the cornerstone of Britain’s future ability to jointly project airpower worldwide.
Three other major sections (called lower blocks) of the ship will be assembled at yards at Portsmouth and Rosyth. Other fabrication work will be done at the Appledore shipyards in Devon. Each block will be transported to Rosyth dockyard where they will be joined together to form the hull of the ship.
Manufacturing activity is continuing across the country, with the assembly of the bow for the Queen Elizabeth well underway at Appledore and work on the aircraft lifts progressing in Rosyth.
While the hull construction is just beginning, the project has moved on apace since the manufacture contract was signed in July last year, with £700m worth of sub-contracts placed for the equipment and furnishings that will kit out the ships from the weapons systems to the galleys and cabins.
