Introducing HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales
At 280 metres long and 65,000 tonnes the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) will be the largest surface warships ever operated by the Royal Navy. Due to enter service in 2016, HMS Queen Elizabeth will dwarf the aircraft carriers currently in service and provide four acres of sovereign territory anywhere in the world. The QEC is constructed for the UK by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) through utilising ship building resources around the country to build component modules of the carriers which are shipped by barge to Rosyth where they are being stitched together to complete the project..

HMS Queen Elizabeth
There have been more than twenty ships named Elizabeth, the list of Battle Honors for which extends from the Armada 1588 to Guadeloupe 1810. However, only one ship has served with the Royal Navy under the name of HMS Queen Elizabeth, her role was as Flagship of an important and innovative class of battleships which served with great distinction in both World Wars.

HMS Prince of Wales
The Royal Navy's first ship named HMS Prince of Wales was originally a French privateer, commissioned on behalf of the ex-King James, then taken as prize by HMS York in 1693 and brought into service as a sixth rate ship, armed with 14 guns.

There have been a further seven Royal Navy ships called Prince of Wales. The most recent a 'King George V' Class battleship, built by Cammell Laird in 1939.

The Purpose or the carrier
• With its complement of embarked aircraft the QE Class will be the centre-piece of Britain’s military capability in areas where we cannot base our aircraft on land.

• A rapidly deployable sovereign base to deliver expeditionary air operations at a time and place of choosing.
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A high profile and coercive presence worldwide to support peace-keeping, conflict prevention and other strategic aims.
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Increased survivability as a result of separation and distribution of power generation machinery throughout the ship.
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Twin islands, separating out running the ship from the flying operations providing greater visibility of the flying operations.
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Highly Mechanised Weapon Handling System enables a streamlined crew to operate a vessel much larger than the carrier which it replaces.
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Affordability of through life support has been a key driver in adopting a commercial design. Key operational spaces can be readily reconfigured and additional equipment inserted in a cost effective manner.
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Electric propulsion system enables the prime movers to operate more efficiently and therefore burn less fuel, saving running costs.
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Sixty-seven catering staff, four galleys on board and four large dining areas, the largest of which can serve 960 crew in an hour.


Did you know?

• The ships will be 65,000 tonnes at full displacement – over three times the size of the current Invincible Class Aircraft Carriers.

• Length; 280m – 90m longer than the existing Aircraft Carriers.

• Width; 70m – twice the width of the existing Aircraft Carriers.

• Each ship will provide four acres of sovereign territory.

• Aircraft; 40 aircraft – double the capacity existing aircraft carrier. The Joint Combat Aircraft expected to carry at least twice the useful payload of the Harrier.

• The ships have been designed to incorporate STOVL aircraft, but have the capacity to be adapted to use catapults as required.

• Each ship will have a crew of 679, however, including the air group, the total complement will 1,600.

• Weapons; Designed to receive the latest generation of the Phalanx close-in weapon system for defence of the vessel. Each ship is also designed to receive 30mm guns and mini-guns located to counter asymmetric threats.

• Power; 2 x Rolls-Royce MT30 Gas Turbines and 4 x Diesel Generator Sets giving total installed power of 109MWe.

• Range; 8,000 to 10,000 nautical miles.

• The first ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to enter service in 2016.

• Each ship will be similar size and weight as the recently retired ocean liner the QE2.

• Each ship has two propellers which together will generate 80MW of power - enough to run 1,000 family cars or 50 high speed trains.

• 56m from keel to masthead – 6m taller than Nelson's Column.

• 110MW power station on board each ship – that’s enough to provide all of Portsea Island with power.

• The distribution network on board will generate enough energy to power 300,000 kettles or 5,500 family homes (a town the size of Swindon).

• Maximum embarked air group is up to 36 Joint Strike Fighters and four Airborne Early Warning aircraft - double the aircraft capacity of the current carriers.

• 2,500km of cable will be installed.

• Capable of a top speed in excess of 25 knots, sufficient to cross from Dover to Calais in an hour.

• Yearly fuel consumption is expected to be very close to that of the current Invincible Class Carriers - despite being approximately three times the weight (weighing more than 40,000 family cars).
• 1.5 million m2 of paintwork, which is 370 acres or slightly more than acreage of Hyde Park.

• The ship's Long Range radar is the same size as a large mobile home.

• Each ship’s two propellers will weigh 33 tonnes each - nearly two and half times as heavy as a double decker bus and one and half times as high.

• Anchors will be 3.1m high, each weighing 13 tonnes - almost as much as a double decker bus.

• Each of the two huge aircraft lifts can move two Joint Strike Fighters from the hangar to the flight deck in 60 seconds. They're so powerful that together they could lift the entire ship's crew.

• Total crew numbers are only about 50% more than on the Invincible class at 1,600 – even though the ships are three times the size.

• In Britain's last big carrier, the Ark Royal scrapped in the late 1970s, sailors lived 100 men to a mess deck. On the new carriers they share six berth cabins with large and comfortable bunks and adjacent toilet facilities and showers.

• Water treatment plant onboard the ships will produce over 500 tonnes of fresh water daily.

• 80,000 tonnes of steel is on order for the two ships, three times that used in Wembley Stadium.