Aircraft Carrier Hull News

A large section of HMS Prince of Wales has been loaded out of its dock hall in Portsmouth ready for delivery to Rosyth for final assembly of the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier to begin. The 6,000-metric-ton section, called Lower Block 02, forms the distinctive forward hull section of HMS Prince of Wales and is comprised of cabins and machinery space. It was rolled out of the dock hall this morning using 2304 wheels guided by a single remote controlled. A transportation team will now secure the block to its barge ahead of departure next Tuesday around the east coast of the U.K.

A huge section of HMS Prince of Wales has arrived in Rosyth as the dockyard prepares for final assembly of the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier, shipbuilder BAE systems announced. The 8,000-metric-ton hull section, known as Lower Block 03, completed the 600-mile journey around the north coast of Scotland last night, after departing BAE Systems in Glasgow on Monday, July 28. The block weighs more than an entire Type 45 destroyer and forms the mid-section of the aircraft carrier’s hull from the keel to the hangar deck.

A huge section of hull for HMS Prince of Wales, the second aircraft carrier being delivered to the Royal Navy, has today departed BAE Systems in Glasgow on a 600-mile journey to Rosyth where final assembly of the ship will take place. The 8,000-metric-ton section, known as Lower Block 03, weighs more than an entire Type 45 destroyer and forms the mid-section of the aircraft carrier’s hull from the keel to the hangar deck. The block, transported by seagoing barge, is scheduled to arrive in Rosyth on Saturday, August 2 where work is currently underway to prepare the dock for the final assembly of HMS Prince of Wales which will begin in September.

Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division hoisted the last piece of primary structure onto the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier 'Gerald R. Ford'. The lift was the last of 162 superlifts and brings more than three years of structural erection work to a close. Susan Ford Bales, the ship's sponsor and daughter of the late President Gerald R. Ford and Betty Ford, was unable to participate in the construction milestone but wrote a letter of appreciation to shipbuilders.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that its Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division has reached 90 percent structural completion in the building of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). Shipbuilders successfully added three units to the ship last week. Two of the units were sponsons, which are structures that project from the side of the aircraft carrier hull and provide the space needed for flight deck operations. One of the sponsons was 140 feet long and weighed 391 metric tons, making it one of the largest sponsons to be erected.

Australian Landing Helicopter Dock (ALHD) ship hull is for onboard Heavy Transport Vessel (HTV) delivery to Australia from Spain. Blue Marlin, the largest semi-submersible HTV available to date, is to load shortly the Navantia manufactured hull (230 meters in length) of the amphibious ALHD flagship Canberra for delivery to the Royal Australian Navy. A complex technical challenge emerged: the aircraft carrier hull was calculated to protrude 55 meters from the aft end of the Blue Marlin.