HMS Prince of Wales, the second of the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers, departed Portsmouth Naval Base in Hampshire on Saturday before encountering an “emerging mechanical problem”, a navy spokesman said. The problem is being investigated. The ship’s departure had been delayed earlier on Friday due to a technical problem, although it is not known if the incidents are related. The £3 billion carrier, which only became fully operational last year, was at one point moored in the south-east of the Isle of Wight. Image: HMS Prince of Wales heading north after damage Its location appeared on MarineTraffic.com before it appeared to move several miles north and then west. It was reportedly slowly moved to Stokes Bay, Gosport, where it is understood the protected area will make it easier for divers to examine the damage. A tweet from the Royal Navy read: “You may be aware of issues with @HMSPWLS since she left her home port of Portsmouth on Saturday. “We are in the process of moving her to a different berth that is more suitable to allow further inspection of the ship.” Another navy tweet said: “Right now, our focus is on the ship and our people; everyone is working hard to understand the problem and what can be done next.” The problem was first reported by the UK Defense Journal, an online defense-focused news site, which reported unconfirmed reports of damage to the right propeller shaft. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:39 £3 billion aircraft carrier wrecked at sea A second specialist news website, Navy Lookout, reported that the 65,000-tonne warship had suffered a “significant technical fault”. “If the issue turns out to be serious, it is understood that this is extremely unfortunate and not a good look for the RN [Royal Navy]”, he said. It said that unless the problem can be resolved at sea, allowing the warship to continue its journey to the US, it may have to go into storage in Rosyth, Scotland, early before a scheduled inspection in 2023. Image: HMS Prince of Wales pictured in February The warship had departed at the weekend on what the Royal Navy described as a mission to “shape the future of stealth jet and drone operations off the coast of North America and in the Caribbean”. The trip – assuming it goes ahead – is planned to see the carrier visit New York, Halifax in Canada and the Caribbean, operating fast fifth-generation F-35 jets from the deck as well as drones. HMS Prince of Wales, which leads a carrier task force, was deployed with a frigate, tanker and an air group of helicopters and drones. F-35 fighter jets are set to join the ship in the US.
