During a tour of the Portsmouth Naval base, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, has opened the Ark Royal facility and confirmed further investment in facilities. The investment will help develop the base for Britain’s new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, which will be Britain’s biggest ever warship.
Some £120M of investment will see new power facilities, and a reinforced jetty, while an area equivalent to over 200 football pitches has been dredged in the harbour so far.
During his visit, the Defence Secretary also met personnel responsible for clearing historic ordnance found whilst undertaking dredging work. He toured the site that is being prepared to receive 65,000 tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth, witnessing the jetty which has been reinforced with 3,300 tonnes of new steelwork, new navigation lights in the harbour and Solent, and the huge fenders and gangways used to accommodate the giant ships.
He said: “Britain’s new aircraft carriers are the biggest and most powerful warships ever built for our Royal Navy. The over £100 million being invested in Portsmouth Naval Base will ensure that it is a fitting and state-of-the-art home for our new warships from spring next year.
“The Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales will lead our powerful and growing Royal Navy and reflect that, in a dangerous world, Britain is stepping up.”
Commander of HMNB Portsmouth, Commodore Jeremy Rigby said: “With the opening of Ark Royal building today, we have reached another important milestone in the preparations to get Portsmouth Naval Base ready for HMS Queen Elizabeth. I was delighted to be able to show the Defence Secretary how the last pieces of the complex jigsaw of getting the Naval Base ready for the new era, are falling into place.”
Due to leave Rosyth for Sea Trials early next year, HMS Queen Elizabeth, the QEC First of Class, will arrive at her new home in Portsmouth in late spring 2017. The infrastructure works at Portsmouth are a major nautical milestone in seeing the QEC ready for duty.
Image: © Crown Copyright
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HMS Queen Elizabeth Michael Fallon Portsmouth QEC UK
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