Standing higher than Nelson’s Column, the ship features a hinged mast which had to be lowered just so she could squeeze under the iconic Forth Railway Bridge. It’s a unique feature of the ship, which is purely designed to fit her under this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On her maiden voyage, this tricky manoeuvre had to wait for the lowest tide, at close to midnight on 26 June. Rolls-Royce is providing over £100 million of power and propulsion equipment to this, and sister ship HMS Prince of Wales. This mammoth project is being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA), an innovative link up between industry and the UK Ministry of Defence.
The Alliance was formed to ensure that all partners take collective responsibility and ownership of the project, and deliver best value for money, and indeed the best possible ships. Alongside the MoD there are three industrial partners: Babcock, BAE Systems and Thales UK. Rolls-Royce is part of a ‘sub-alliance’, led by Thales and also comprising GE Power Conversion and L3 Marine Systems UK, to deliver the power and propulsion for both ships.
This includes two 36MW MT30 marine gas turbines, each driving a large alternator, which will work with the four diesel generators to supply the ship’s electrical power, used to both propel and power the ship, of around 110MW – enough to power a town the size of Swindon. The vessel also features Rolls-Royce adjustable bolted propellers and shaftlines, steering gear and rudders, retractable stabilisers and the complete low voltage electrical distribution system.