United Kingdom Defense Industry
The UK defense budget represents about 3.5 percent of GDP. The defense industry is largely privatized and is dominated by three large contractors (British Aerospace, GEC-Marconi, and GKN) and a second tier of smaller, more specialized companies. The UK is the third largest purchaser of defence equipment behind the US and China. The UK also spends a larger proportion (around 40-45 per cent) of that budget on equipment than other nations. Between 2003-5 £3bn was spent buying UK-based defence-aerospace companies - often by companies entering the market for the first time. The UK has consistently been the number two supplier of defence equipment over the past 20 years. Defence exports are worth on average £5 billion per annum to the UK economy. The share of GDP spent on forces and equipment is around 2.3 per cent, which is low by historical standards and compared to other nations seeking to maintain a presence as a world player. The share of defence expenditure as a percentage of government spending has dropped from 10per cent to 5 per cent in recent years.
The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) has set out the key capabilities and programmes that the MoD will be taking forward in the next decade. The focus will be on unmanned aerial systems (UAS), the upgrade and through life capability management of existing platforms and future helicopters. The DIS has highlighted the increasingly critical role of technology in securing military advantage. This requires significant investment in research and technology.
The UK is Europe's leader in the high-technology manufacturing and services sectors represented by Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Together they employ over half a million people in 9,000 companies and contribute over £60 billion (~$90 billion) per year to the British economy. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the UK's high value manufacturing and services industries in aerospace, defence, security and space. At least 9,000 companies make up these highly diverse skilled engineering and support sectors. Every single large aerospace or defence equipment contract is underpinned by the hard work of hundreds of SMEs. The UK defence industry alone has more SMEs than the French, German, Italian, Spanish and Norwegian industries combined. This enables UK SMEs to respond to the needs of the Armed Forces as a priority, speeding up the deployment of life saving battlefield capabilities.
The United Kingdom has a large and diverse defense industry. In 1986 this represented around £12 billion ($17.6 billion), of which £9 billion was in MoD contracts ($13.2 billion) and £3billion in exports ($4.4 billion), with an additional £400 million ($510 million) imported (95 percent of which was from the United States). While the UK MoD identified about 10,000 firms that benefited from its contracts, a smaller number (about 100) made equipment specifically for the MoD.
Two important trends in the British defense industry in the 1980s were privatization and consolidation. During the 1980s the Thatcher government sold off most of the state-held firms (including British Aerospace (1985), Royal Ordnance (1987), British Shipbuilders (1986), Shorts Brothers (1989) and Rolls-Royce, as well as the management of the Royal Dockyards. Over the same period, two defense industrial giants emerged, British Aerospace (which acquired Hawker Siddeley, much of Royal Ordnance, and Sperry UK) and GEC (which acquired all or parts of Marconi Electronics, Ferranti, and Plessey). GKN purchased the helicopter manufacturer Westland, and GEC purchased the military vehicle and shipbuilder VSEL in 1994. In 1999, British Aerospace merged with GeneralElectric's Marconi division.
In the mid-1990s it employed some 225,000-340,000, accounting for 3 percent of the labor force and 3 percent of the UK's GDP (one-fourth of which was exported). Some estimates put this figure slightly higher, at 225,000 for UK MoD contracts, 120,000 for defense exports (a total of 345,000), and an additional 170,000 indirectly involved in defense activities [Trevor Taylor and Keith Hayward, The UK Defense Industrial Base-- Development and Future Policy Options, 1989). Keith Hartley et al, 'The Economics of UK Defense Policy in the 1990.," RUSI Journal, Summer 1990, gave the figure as 340,000 direct, 280,000 indirect for 1987-1988. The UK Trades Union Congress put the figure at 1 million.
By 2010 the UK defence industry represented ten percent of UK manufacturing, was number one in Europe and second only to the US globally, employing over 300,000 people and generating over £35 billion per year to the UK economy. The industry also worked hand-in-hand with the UK Armed Forces from factory to frontline, for example over 4,000 industry personnel were working with British troops in Afghanistan.
Each year defence exports provide on average £5bn to the UK economy and it is the largest overseas supplier of defence equipment to the United States. The demand from overseas for British-made equipment - from fast jets to helicopters and electronic systems to personal kit for individual troops - is high because of its quality and provenance. Its use by UK forces in recent campaigns also provides confidence to export customers. Defence exports offer the UK a route out of recession and excellent returns on initial investment.
The UK had a 21 percent share of the defence export market in the five years from 2005 to 2010, and defence exports support 65,000 UK jobs. Defence in the UK was responsible for 40 per cent of defence R&D in Europe and contributed £12bn in value added to the UK economy in 2008 - up 15 per cent since 2006. The defence industry in the UK submitted more than twice the number of patents applications compared to the pharmaceutical sector between 2007-10.
The major challenges for the industry are: To work closely with the Government on the Strategic Defence Review; To assist with the reform of the procurement process; To encourage the reversal of a decline in research and technology spending; and To increase the exportability of UK equipment and services.
The UK fosters open competition policies that seek the best defense equipment for the best value. As such, the UK's defense procurement policy seeks best value for money, which usually means taking a commercial approach to procurement by using competition. Competition is the cornerstone of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) policy. In accordance with its open competition policy, the MOD will acquire defense equipment from foreign sources when the advantages of cost, performance, and delivery schedule outweigh the benefits of buying the British alternative. The United States is the major supplier of defense imports to the UK. The main factors contributing to the U.S. success are the uniqueness and technical sophistication of the U.S. defense systems, industrial participation offered to local U.S. companies, and/or no domestically developed product in the competition. However, the UK Government tends to choose a domestically developed product when one exists. In some cases, these products contain significant U.S. content. International competition has intensified and as well as existing aerospace economies there are a growing number of emerging markets seeking their own aerospace capabilities. Therefore, successful companies are faced with a wider range of investment locations. The industry is more internationally mobile. If the UK is to remain and prosper as a location for these activities and the intellectual property associated with them, it is essential that the Government ensures the framework of support it provides is globally competitive. Failure to do so will result in an increasing proportion of jobs and high-value R&D, with all the everyday life benefits that spin-off from it - such as satellite navigation for example - being taken out of the UK.
Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Ltd (VSEL)
Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Ltd (VSEL) was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in northwest England that built warships and armaments. The company was historically the Naval Construction Works of Vickers Armstrongs and has a heritage of building large naval warships and armaments. Floated in 1986 after an interlude as a nationalised business, the company has been building submarines at its Barrow yards since 1886.
Through a complicated history the company's shipbuilding division is now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions and the armaments division is now part of BAE Systems Land Systems. BAE Systems Submarine Solutions is a division of BAE Systems responsible for the development and production of the Astute class submarine. The £ 478.5m agreed offer for VSEL by British Aerospace in October 1994 brought to an end speculation over the continued independence of Britain's only nuclear submarine maker.
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Manchester and 90 km (56 mi) southwest from the county town of Carlisle. The town is situated at the tip of the Furness peninsula bordered only by Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea. Barrow is located some 360 km (just over 220 miles) north-west of London and 60 miles south of the Scottish border.
Cammell Laird http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server?show=ConJmrArticle.95&setPaginate=No&outputFormat=print">Conventional submarine building at Scott's of Greenock, 1912-84 http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/Cammell%20Laird%20Shipbuilders%20to%20the%20World.htm"> Cammell Laird - Birkenhead, Merseyside
Cammell Laird is one of the UK's largest commercial shiprepair and conversion companies and is recognised internationally in the industry for the range and quality of marine and industrial services it provides. The business specialisation is in the commercial repair, conversion, heavy fabrication and military refit market place. CL offers the full array of shipyard skills and services, making a one stop solution for all your amarine requirements.
The shipyard is located within a major marine services 'cluster' and has immediate and direct access to specialist support services, Classification Societies and Port State Authorities. On any project, no matter how large or small, while respecting the customer's commercial position CL encourages a 'partnership' approach within the project team. This ethos is reflected in the significant amount of repeat business conducted by the Company. The professional attitude of the workforce, the wide range of facilities at CL's disposal and the broad scope of unrivalled services that CL offer, provides a unique service to the marine industry.
The Cammell Laird shipyard is located on the UK's west coast on the famous River Mersey on one of the most historical sites in UK marine industry. Facilities include four dry docks and extensive workshops on a site covering some 120 acres. The dry docks all have direct access from the River Mersey and are served by excellent craneage of up to 50T, with mobile cranes available for up to 1,000T load out capacity, and floating cranes available of up to 250T.
Like most major British rivers, the Mersey had an active shipbuilding industry during the sailing ship era. Building wooden ships was the job of skilled craftsmen, usually working in small yards with minimal capital and equipment. With the transition to iron and then steel shipping in the second half of the nineteenth century, the industry consolidated sharply, with North East England and the Clyde becoming the main centres of British shipbuilding. Liverpool shipbuilding also faced a local threat from the early nineteenth century onward, with the inexorable expansion of the commercial dock system. Docks, sheds and warehouses were a more lucrative use of waterfront space than shipyards, so successive port authorities pushed the town's shipbuilders out to the edges of the dock system, kept them on short leases, and eventually removed them from the Liverpool waterfront altogether.
If Liverpool made shipbuilders relatively unwelcome, the industry had a very different role on the other side of the Mersey. William Laird's ironworks and shipyard in Birkenhead (founded in 1824) became the town's biggest industry and one of the world's best-known firms, pioneering ironclad warships and going on to build some of the best-known vessels of the twentieth century, including both the 1938 and 1955 incarnations of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. Although Laird built many merchant ships as well as warships, it would be wrong to see the Birkenhead shipbuilders and the Liverpool shipowners as working closely together in a Merseyside shipping alliance. Liverpool's shipowners mostly ordered their vessels from the Clyde, Belfast and the North East, where they had a wide choice of yards with experience of building large cargo and passenger vessels in great numbers.
Cammell Laird was originally established in 1824 and has a long and illustrious record of service to the marine industry. William Laird established a boilerworks in Wallasey Pool 1824. William Laird and Son, 1828-1860; John Laird and Sons Ltd, 1860-1862; Laird Brothers, 1862-1899; Laird Brothers Ltd, 1899-1903. Cammell Laird & Co Ltd [1903-1951] was created in 1903 by the amalgamation of the Charles Cammell & Co Ltd, steelmaker, Sheffield, England, and Laird Brothers Ltd, shipbuilders, Birkenhead, Wirral, England. The Derwent Iron Company, founded in 1875, and the Solway Hematite Iron Company, founded in 1870, were both part of Charles Cammell and Company, and subsequently became part of Workington Iron and Steel in 1909.
To recount the history of the well-known firm of Laird is almost equivalent to giving a history of the steamship itself, so intimately has the firm been associated with the origin and growth of iron vessels; and, moreover, while the Birkenhead Ironworks may safely claim to be one of the oldest shipbuilding firms in the kingdom, it retained for upwards of 75 years its original character as a private family concern. The business was converted into a limited company, under the title of Laird Brothers, Ltd., in the year 1900.
In 1824 William Laird laid the foundation of the existing establishment, but it was his son, John Laird, who in 1829 recognised the future possibilities of iron as a material for shipbuilding, and he gave practical proof of the faith that was in him by constructing in that year what, if not actually the first iron ship, was certainly one of the first. Shortly after this initial attempt MacGregor Laird, also a son of William Laird, made another step in advance by being the first to take an iron vessel on a sea voyage. This was the Alburha, forming one of the African expedition's vessels.
In 1835 the first screw steamer was launched at Birkenhead to the order of an American naval officer, and was christened with his name, Robert F. Stockton. In 1839 Mr. Laird received his first order from the Admiralty for an iron paddle steamer named the Dover, which was employed as a mail packet. When in 1861 Mr. John Laird retired from the firm, his three sons, William, John, and Henry H. Laird, entered into partnership, under the style of Laird Brothers.
On the death of Mr. John Laird the younger, early in 1898, Mr. William Laird, the sole remaining member of the partnership of 1861, associated with him in partnership Mr. John McGregor Laird, who had for several years taken a leading part in the general conduct of the business, Mr. William Laird, jun., and Mr. Roy McGregor Laird, each being a son of one of the members who constituted the firm in 1861, and therefore representing the fourth generation that had sprung up to continue the traditions of the firm.
In 1903 an important extension of the works was decided upon, embracing a large area of land adjoining the present yard, on which a fitting-out basin of ample extent and two large graving docks capable of taking in any size of steamer have been constructed, together with new shops complete with all the most modern appliances ; and, in connection with this extension, an amalgamation was arranged with Charles Cammell and Co., Ltd., of Sheffield, the well-known steel and armour plate makers, the name of the new company being Cammell, Laird and Co., Ltd. Mr. John McGregor Laird and Mr. R. R. Bevis joined the board of the new company as directors, the former being subsequently appointed chairman. This amalgamation places the company in a position to construct entirely on their own premises vessels of war of the largest class complete with their armor, ready for service.
During the first 80 years of their existence the Birkenhead works turned out a vast amount and variety of work, embracing steamers of all classes, from the Atlantic liner to the small river steamer, and for many years past very special attention has been devoted to the design and production of vessels of war of all types, as is evidenced by the fact that 104 vessels have been built for His Majesty's Navy, among which have been four 1st class battleships of 14,000 tons and 13,000 to 18,000 Hp., and a large number of gun-vessels, torpedo gun-boats, and torpedo-boat destroyers, and recently seven of the new 25$ knot destroyers have been completed and successfully passed through their trials. The works have also built many armor clad vessels, gun-boats, and torpedo-boat destroyers for the Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Peruvian, Argentine, Brazilian, Chilian, and other navies.
Cammell Laird and Co Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd, operated 1951-1970; Cammell Laird Shiprepairers Ltd. Cammell Laird Shiprepairers Ltd & Grayson Clover Rollo Docks combined to become Cammell Laird Drydocks Ltd in 1965. Laird Group (50% owned by Cammell Laird & Co Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, 50% owned by the government) formed in 1970. It was renamed Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Ltd in 1972. It was subsequently part of British Shipbuilders, Cammell Laird and Company, Birkenhead,1977-1985; VSEL Holdings PLC, Birkenhead, Cammell Laird Shipbuilders, 1985-1993.
Over the a period of 185 years the shipyard launched more than 1350 ships. During World War II alone the shipyard produced nearly 200 vessels both commercial and military in support of the UK war effort, including HMS Rodney, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Ark Royal.
HMS Thetis was a 275ft long submarine built by the 'Cammell Laird' company in Birkenhead, Merseyside and launched in 1938. However it experienced problems during its first dive on 1st June 1939 and dramatically sank 160ft below the surface of the water, trapping all 103 people on board including official crew members, catering staff and employees from the 'Cammell Laird' company - approximately twice as many people as the vessel was built to carry. By the time help arrived it was evening and too dark to rescue those trapped so attempts were delayed until the next morning. Although the vessel had a supply of 36 hours of air on board this was reduced to about 18 hours because of the excess number of people and the overnight delay meant the air supply was quickly running out. During rescue attempts the following day, four men were successfully rescued. A further failed rescue attempt resulted in a man dying from 'the 'bends'. The total loss in the disaster was 99 lives.
Cammell Laird continued in business as a public company until the Government took a 50% stake in 1972. The yard was subsequently nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders and then privatised and bought in 1983 by Vickers, the famous Barrow in Furness shipbuilders. Cammell Laird was designated as a shipyard only for building warships. Its last ship, the U class conventional submarine HMS Unicorn was completed in 1993. The Cammell Laird shipyard closed at the end of July 1993. The yard owners VSEL have indicated that parts of the yard were mothballed until 1994 in the hope that ship-building related uses will be attracted to the site. When this proved unsuccessful, the site represented a major opportunity to secure new employment within the inner urban area. Substantial preparatory work was needed before the site is capable of redevelopment. Merseyside Development Corporation, within whose boundaries the site is located, began work on this process, completing a new spine road through the site.
Before going into receivership in April 2001, Cammell Laird Group plc (Cammell Laird) supplied ship repair and conversion services at its docks at Birkenhead, Tyneside and Teeside. It also operated docks worldwide. In the year ended 30 April 2000 it reported a pre-tax profit of £16m on turnover of £138m, and gross assets of £68m. A&P Group Holdings Ltd (A&P) supplies ship repair and conversion services at its docks on the South Coast and the Tyne. In the year ended 31 December 2000 it reported a pre-tax loss of £6.3m on turnover of £55.8m, and gross assets of £45m. In 2001 A&P acquired the following parts of Cammell Laird: the freehold of the dry dockyards at Birkenhead and Tyneside; an option to acquire the lease from the local authority of the dry dockyard on Teesside; the freehold of the land surrounding the Teesside dry dockyard; and the plant and equipment for all the above yards.
The parties overlapped in the supply of repair and conversion services for Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels, and for commercial vessels up to 40m wide. The supply of repair and conversion services for the RFA is restricted to the United Kingdom, as the Ministry of Defence appoints those who can undertake such work and limits itself to dockyards in this country. The MoD uses a competitive tendering process and is likely to benefit from considerable buyer power. It had no concerns about the merger. The parties' combined share of supply has varied considerably between 1996 and 2001, from 43 per cent to 92 per cent. Although they have clearly been significant suppliers to the MoD, a number of alternatives exist, and further entry was possible.
Peel Holdings, the property developer and port and airport operator, further cemented its influence across Merseyside in 2007 after acquiring the former Cammell Laird shipyard in a deal believed to be worth around £100m. The site's previous owner, Reddington Finance, had spent four years drawing up a £2bn redevelopment scheme featuring a snow dome and luxury apartments. But with Peel's ownership of large swathes of docklands on both sides of the Mersey and its £4.5bn plans for a 18 million sq ft waterside regeneration on the Wirral, the North West giant was viewed as better placed to develop the site.
The Cammell Laird site is an ideal opportunity to continue the expansion of Peel's port business here in Merseyside. Peel intends to retain the industrial heritage of Cammell Laird and invest for growth and employment in various industrial and port activities for the site. Around 14 tenants already occupy the site and they will be unaffected by the change in ownership.
Meanwhile, plans were underway to transform the Birkenhead Docks site into a destination to rival international cities such as Sydney, New York and Shanghai. The Wirral Waters vision will see the creation of a world-class, mixed-use iconic waterfront development. More than 500 acres of brownfield, underused land will be redeveloped to allow the construction of three iconic, 50-storey towers, a new retail park, 15,000 new homes and 5 million sq ft of office space overlooking the Wirral, the River Dee and the Liverpool waterfront. A new marina will also be built while landscaped open areas of green space for public use will allow access to the waters edge.
The yard was subsequently sold off to Coast Line Industries which built up a good business in ship repair and major conversions. One of the most illustrious names in British industry, Cammell Laird shipyard, made a spectacular return to trading 17 November 2008. On what was an emotional and proud day, hundreds of workers at the famous Birkenhead shipyard again walked through the gates of 'Cammell Laird' welcoming back a name at the heart of Merseyside and the history of shipbuilding. The day marked an astonishing revival in fortunes for the shipyard after Cammell Laird closed its gates in 2001 leaving the site, including its huge modular shipbuilding hall deserted. In the seven intervening years a small group of Cammell Laird's former management team led by managing director John Syvret, have steadily built up a new company at the shipyard Northwestern Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd (NSL).
Having established itself in the UK ship repair, conversion and military refit market, with a forecasted turnover in excess of £90m and a full order book, Mr Syvret said the time was right to bring back Cammell Laird in support of its marine services business. "This is a truly historic day for the shipyard," he said. "It has taken seven years of grit and determination, commitment and long hours from the whole team to rebuild a thriving business here again. We bought back the Cammell Laird name via the receivers some time ago, but have waited until now to restore it to its rightful home. We passionately believed that to bring back the Cammell Laird brand name and trademark we had to have enough financial strength, substance, and credibility to live up to its international reputation.
The year 2007 commenced with an unprecedented level of refit and repair activity for the UK MoD (Royal Fleet Auxiliary). Three highly complex major refits with an aggregate value of approximately £27 million have been running concurrently. The last time three major RFA refits were undertaken concurrently in one shipyard in the UK was 1993. The large amount of military refit work undertaken has allowed Cammell Laird to develop a range of skills in excess of those usually found in a shiprepair company. These include the refurbishment and upgrade of aviation, magazine and military communications facilities which all demand the highest level of quality and accuracy.
After signing a contract with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in early 2008 for the maintenance of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, potentially worth up to £1bn over 30 years, and prequalification for supporting the future aircraft carrier build program, the time had come. The yard, which has a 50-50 split of commercial and military work, would now look to grow further its marine services business in the international ship building, refit, repair and conversion market. The final piece of the jigsaw was now in place. By renaming the yard Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd, the company aimed to catapult the business forward.
The massive progress and growth of the separate companies Cammell Laird (Gibraltar) and Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Ltd in the UK brought an urgent need for clarification of the relationship between the two. An agreement was reached which provides that clarity to customers, suppliers, and workforces as to the services they respectively provide, and their independent plans and objectives for the future. With immediate effect in July 2009, Cammell Laird (Gibraltar) changed its name to Gibdock. Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd maintained its name and will have sole ownership of the Cammell Laird name and trademark.
The No 5 drydock at the site is one of the largest remaining in the UK and therefore is of strategic importance to the UK as the Royal Navy's new large aircraft carriers will need to be maintained and will require adequate drydock facilities around the UK to support them. The No 5 drydock at the Cammell Laird site (along with four others: King George V drydock in Southampton, Inchgreen drydock on the Clyde, the Harland & Wolff drydock in Belfast and the No 1 drydock at Babcock Rosyth) is one of only five in the UK that currently are large enough to cater for these new large aircraft carriers.
Cammell Laird was awarded the £44M contract to build two huge sections of the first new aircraft carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance in late 2009 and since then much work had been underway at the facility to accommodate the manufacture of these huge steel structures. Ship building returned to the River Mersey Monday 26 July 2010 when construction of the flight deck for the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier, the Queen Elizabeth was officially started by Minister for International Security Strategy, Gerald Howarth MP. The Birkenhead facility is the sixth UK ship yard to commence manufacture of the 65,000 tonne ship, with work already underway at BAE Systems in Glasgow and Portsmouth, at Babcock's facilities in Appledore, North Devon and Rosyth in Fife as well as A&P Tyne in Hebburn on Tyneside. Present at the event were Rear Admiral Philip Jones, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff as well as over 100 members of the Cammell Laird workforce, including several apprentices who will be learning their trade while working on the Royal Navy's future flagship.
British Shipbuilders
In 1914, Britain was a leading force in the shipbuilding industry. Although the industry benefited from the need to replace destroyed stock after the First World War, it was hit badly by depression and war in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. The industry enjoyed a period of resurgence from 1945, but declined drastically from 1960.
With the rise of foreign registration under 'Flags of Convenience' in the 1960s, the market for ships changed. A large proportion of ships built in Britain were registered in foreign countries. At the same time, as British shipbuilders became increasingly uncompetitive, British owners increasingly purchased abroad. It should be noted, however, that in 1967 Britain still had the world's largest merchant fleet.
The Geddes Committee was appointed in 1965 to consider how greater competitiveness could be achieved through changes in organisation and methods of production. However, before the Committee reported, the decline of the industry was confirmed by the financial difficulties of the Fairfield Shipyard. The government provided financial assistance in an attempt to prevent the collapse of the company.
The government sought consolidation in a number of industries. The report argued that in order to take advantage of opportunities for growth, individual shipyards would need to be joined in groups. This would enable the effective sharing of resources for research and development, and the construction of very large ships and tankers. It recommended the formation of large groups based in Tyne, Wear and Tees, the Clyde and Belfast. In 1966, the Geddes Committee found that British prices for tankers and bulk carriers were uncompetitive. The Committee also found that because of inefficiency and poor industrial relations, British ships took longer to produce and deliver than those of foreign competitors.
Having accepted these recommendations, the government set up the Shipbuilding Industry Board (SIB) to oversee the proposed reorganisation. Substantial finances were made available to cover reorganisation. The government agreed to guarantee low interest loans that banks advanced to owners purchasing British ships. The measures were incorporated in the Shipbuilding Industry Act 1967.
These measures assisted the industry in obtaining more orders. Some failed, however, to take account of escalating costs, entering into unprofitable contracts during the late 1960s. A number of large companies, including Cammell Laird, Upper Clyde Shipbuilders and Harland & Wolff, ran into financial difficulties. The decision to assist these companies was contingent upon their financial viability and the potential social and political consequences of closure. Assistance for Upper Clyde Shipbuilders was part of Edward Heath's 'u-turn' on free market economic policy in 1972.
In spite of these measures, British shipbuilding continued to decline. Market conditions were extremely difficult with world demand for ships present only 25 percent of world capacity. As a result of the energy crisis no new tankers would be needed for some years and as a result of the world recession the demand for dry cargo ships had fallen sharply. The British industry was uncompetitive - Japanese yards were quoting prices 50 percent below those of British yards while European prices were 20 percent below British.
During the mid-1970s, the Labour government considered nationalisation of the industry to save it from collapse. Nationalisation was carried out under the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act of 1977. The general view of the Cabinet was that action must be taken to prevent the destruction of the shipbuilding industry. It would be absurd for a major maritime nation to become wholly dependent on overseas suppliers of ships. The Secretary of State for Industry had proposed a variety of measures which might be taken and this action was kept under review by the Ministerial Committee on Economic and Industrial Policy.
http://www.gibraltar.gov.uk/">
Gibraltar
Gibraltar's strategic location explains why, for centuries, the Rock has been used as a naval fortress and why so many battles have been fought over this tiny peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Today, this same quirk of geography has allowed Gibraltar to become a maritime centre of excellence. Located at a crossroads of Mediterranean and Atlantic shipping lanes, Gibraltar is ideally placed to provide a wide range of services to vessels of all sizes and types.
Down the centuries, Gibraltar has been a place of fierce conflict as well as successful commerce. In ancient times the Rock was used by the Phoenicians, followed by the Carthaginians and the Romans. The Moors held sway from 711 until 1462 when Spain seized control. The Spanish ruled the Rock until 1704 when it was surrendered to Anglo-Dutch forces during the Spanish War of Succession. In 1713 Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht and has remained British ever since.
On the Rock of Gibraltar, the past is a living reality. Colorful ceremonial events such as the Changing of the Guard and the Ceremony of the Keys are performed exactly as they have been for centuries. In the Gibraltar Museum - strategically positioned over one of the finest fourteenth century Moorish bathhouses - you can find a series of fascinating exhibits from every period of the Rock's extraordinary history. It is a story that begins at least as early as the Stone Age, the first Neanderthal skull ever discovered was found here in 1848.
Since men first braved the sea, the Bay of Gibraltar has sheltered ships and sailors. To the ancient Greeks, Gibraltar marked the limit to the known world. To pass beyond it was to sail to certain destruction over the bottomless waterfall at the edge of the world. Thus the many findings of offerings made to the Gods by these and other civilisations such as the Phoenicians and Carthaginians in the many caves on the shorelines.
Seven hundred years after the birth of Christ, the Arab leader Tarik-Ibn-Zeyad conquered the Rock and named it Jebel-Tarik (Tarik's mountain). An important military and naval base, it changed hands many times during the following eight centuries of Arab occupation in Spain. In the early part of the fourteenth century Spanish forces occupied Gibraltar for twenty-four years; but in 1333 it reverted to Moorish control after a bloody eighteen week siege. The Rock did not finally become Spanish until 1462 when the Duke of Medina Sidonia recaptured it. The eighteenth century saw another change of ownership. In July 1704, as he lay off Tetuan with a large combined fleet of British and Dutch warships, Admiral Sir George Rooke saw an opportunity to capture the Rock. The city fathers initially refused Rooke's call to surrender but 15,000 rounds of shot and shell and landings by British marines and sailors persuaded them otherwise.
Since that day, the Rock has played a part in some of the most famous episodes of British history. During the American War of Independence, the combined forces of France and Spain besieged Gibraltar for four and a half years. The body of Nelson, preserved in a barrel of rum, was brought to Gibraltar after his magnificent victory at Trafalgar and in the Second World War the Rock was a key factor in British victories in the Mediterranean.
The development of Gibraltar as a naval port was prompted in part by Lord Nelson. His flagship, 'Victory', was one of several warships repaired at the naval dockyard. The construction of dry docks took place between 1891 and 1906. The naval dockyard continued to be operated by the British Government until 1985 when it became a private concern. Today it is run by the independent company Cammell Laird (Gibraltar) Ltd.
Gibraltar is a bustling commercial center. With over 80,000 vessels transiting the Strait of Gibraltar each year, the Rock has become a major bunkering station - the largest in the Mediterranean - and offers a wide range of other shipping services. The local airport is just a few minutes from the harbor, and experienced agents are on hand to obtain spare parts, supply provisions and effect crew changes.
Swan Hunter Shipbuilding & Engineering Group Ltd Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., Wallsend and Walker-on-Tyne
The Swan Hunter shipyard was used for shipbuilding for more than 140 years. The shipyard played a incredibly significant role in the history of industrial development in the North East. The shipbuilding industry of this firm dates back to the early days of iron ships. In 1842 the first iron vessel ever built on the river Tyne - namely, the Prince Albert - was launched from the site of the present south yard, which was purchased some 18 years later by Mr. John Wigham Richardson when he founded the Neptune Works. The area of the shipyard was then only four acres, with a frontage of 107 yards, and having three berths, the longest being 320 ft. Two hundred men at most were then employed, and the maximum annual output of ships was about 4,000 gross tons. The present company is an amalgamation effected in 1903 of the following firms: C. S. Swan, Hunter, Ltd., Wigham Richardson and Co., Ltd., The Tyne Pontoons and Dry Dock Co., Ltd.
The works are situated at the deep bend of the River Tyne on its north bank, about three miles to the east of Newcastle. They cover an area of about 78 acres, with a river frontage of some 4,000 ft. The premises comprise shipyards, a yard for building floating docks, engine and boiler works, a dry dock (550 ft. long and 76 ft. wide at entrance, with a depth of water of 26 j ft. over the sill), and two floating docks capable of lifting vessels up to 350 ft. long. In the dry-dock department many important repairs and alterations to ships have been effected. To cite a few noteworthy contracts, mention may be made of cutting in two and lengthening by 60 ft. the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer Wittekind; extensive repairs to the Australian steamer Miowcra, which, after being stranded at Honolulu, was brought to the Tyne, a voyage of 14,000 miles, and completely repaired; constructing and fitting a new forward end, 180 ft. long, to the Canadian Pacific Railway Co.'s Milwaukee - this vessel was stranded off the coast of Scotland, and by means of dynamite was cut in two, much in the same way as the operation on the Suevic, the old and new parts of the ship were put into dry dock and successfully joined together; fitting a new bow to the end of the Russian ice-breaker Ermack: partly replating the British Admiralty's oil-carrying ship Petroleum.
Of warships the company docked many battleships, cruisers, and torpedo-boats for the Governments of Great Britain, the United States of America, Japan, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Argentine, Chili, Brazil, and China. The normal capacity of the shipyards is 120,000 gross register tons a year. In 1906 this firm established the record for the amount of tonnage turned out in one year at one yard, the total tonnage launched being 127,000 tons.
The largest ship that had been constructed by 1907, the Cunard Co.'s R.M.S. Mauretania, even exceeding her sister ship, the Lusitania, was built at this yard. The overall dimensions of the ship are 790 ft. long and 88 ft. broad and her displacement about 40,000 tons. The main engines are four Parsons' steam turbines, each on a separate shaft, and each driving one propeller. The average service speed is to be 25 kts., and to maintain this speed the power of the main turbines will be abom 50% more than has ever been installed in any mercantile ship. This company has also built for the same owners the Ivernia, 600 ft long anc 14,000 tons gross register, the Carpathia, 13,500 tons, and the Ultonia, 8,056 tons.
A special feature of the work done in this yard was a large number of passenger and mail steamers for Channel and coasting services. One of tfc; fastest examples of these vessels is the twin screw Princess Victoria, in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co., and mention may be made of the Khedivial Mail Steamship Co.'s twin sere* Osmanieh, and of the triple screw turbine steamer Immingham, owned by the Great Central Rail*,; Co. Among many companies ordering steamers from this yard may be mentioned the Cork Steanship Co., Ltd., who have had 20 steamers built here; 24 for the Hansa Line of Bremen; 18 for tie Adria Royal Hungarian Sea Navigation Co. ; and 12 for Messrs. Elder Dempster and Co-in fact, almost all the large and important steamship coir. panies have at one time or another had vessels built by this firm.
Floating docks formed another leading speciality of the company, and the following are among the most important of the many orders which have been successfully executed: A dock lifting 12,000 tons buiit to the order of the Spanish Government and towed out to Havana in 1897; one for thr Stettiner Maschinenbau Actien Gesellschaft "Vulcan." For the British Admiralty a large dock was built and sent out to Bermuda, in the West Indies. This dock is 545 ft. long, 126 ft. broad. and has a lifting capacity of 16,500 tons. Earlv in 1904 a dock was delivered in Durban Harbour to the order of the Natal Government. This was followed by a dock for the Suez Canal Co. at Port Said, and in 1905 facilities for repairing ships a Africa were increased by a dock for the Nigeria Dry Dock and Engineering Co.. on the River Forcados, West Africa. Two docks built for the Japanese Government and one for the Riasan Uralsk Railway Co., in Russia, were not towed to their respective destinations, but were despatched in pieces and re-erected on arrival.
Another remarkable structure built by the company was the large floating coal depot owned by the British Admiralty. It was the first of its kind and has proved a great success ; 425 ft. long. 68 ft. broad, its storage capacity is 12,000 tons of coalIt is equipped with 12 Temperley transporters operated electrically, and fitted with a larp number of coal shoots for rapidly filling bags without shovelling. Seeing that two of the largest warships can be berthed at the same time, the floating depot practically gives the equi\-alent at 1,000 ft. of quay frontage.
On 11 May 1993 the Minister for Defence Procurement announced that a contract was to be placed with Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (VSEL) for the design and build of a vessel known as the Landing Platform for Helicopters [LPH]. VSEL had been competing with Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Limited (Swan Hunter] for the contract and the Ministerial statement referred to the fact that VSEL had won "by a very substantial margin of over £50 million". In order to give Swan Hunter a chance to secure the future of the company, the Department had invited Best and Final offerson 26 March 1993. These were received on 22 April 1993 and the decision on contract award made shortly after. At this stage, the price offered by Swan Hunter had increased while that offered by VSEL had decreased leading to a gap of £71 million between the two bids. Although the outcome of the competition was not due to be announced so quickly, the Department considered that any undue delay in the award of the contract could result in Swan Hunter going into receivership.
By 2003 Swan Hunter had delivered an apprenticeship program for over 10 years. Currently there are 125 apprentices in a workforce of 1200 and to date over 200 apprentices have been trained. Apprenticeship frameworks covered 9 disciplines ranging from administration to welding. On the whole the frameworks were judged to be sufficiently flexible to meet business needs. While women had equal chance for all opportunities they tended to be focus on IT and the shop floor apprentices are exclusively male. Swan Hunter argued that apprentices' contribution to the business is low (10%) because of the high level of training off-the-job. They feel that the current levels of MA funding was only marginal and inhibits Swan Hunter from taking on more apprentices. Swan Hunter receives £6K funding from LSC buts says the gross costs of an MA is £35K, excluding salary costs of £25k for the first year. Swan Hunter felt that Government should make a larger contribution of around £12-15k to offset the risk of guaranteeing work on completion of the apprenticeship. The adult apprenticeship opportunities had proven very popular with around 50 applications for each place and the scheme had 100% retention.
By 2004 the Shipyard at Wallsend had been without any new orders for more than 5 years. Regardless of assurances from Local Development Agencies of the future for Marine and Offshore Construction, a lack of work possibilities on the Tyne continued with several shipyards and construction sites closing. Following the current owners purchase of the site, there were around 1,200 jobs annually for a decade. This ended with a MoD contract that led to financial penalties resulting in a re-evaluation of the Yard's work and development opportunities.
Aa number of areas of work were reviewed by Swan Hunter for the yard. Offshore Oil and Gas Construction provided few opportunities, primarily smaller contracts. High overheads of the Wallsend yard make it a market that cannot be relied upon for future of yard. Naval Shipbuilding - creation of a single source for UK shipbuilding meant North East Yards will not receive new shipbuilding contracts. May get smaller components of CVF aircraft carrier but no guarantee so market cannot be relied upon for future work. Commercial Shipbuilding - except for "Solitaire" the yard had no commercial shipbuildingwork. Only real opportunities are in specialist vessels, but requires tender and project management capability that it may not be economic for the Yard to resurrect. Most contracts would require credit and performance bonds the company could not provide. Ship Decommissioning - the company has a Waste Management Licence that would allowship decommissioning. Had aimed for MoD contracts but included contracting requirementswith which the Yard could not comply. Such contracts would employ unskilled workers and be unlikely to cover the yards running costs. Oil & Gas Decommissioning - Many fixed oil & gas platforms in the UK expected to cometo end of commercial life by now. However, high oil prices mean platforms have beenupgraded and will continue operating for many years. Decommissioning work not lucrative enough to cover running costs and provides low levels of employment.
The Wallsend Facility had to close. A Marine Engineering Service was ongoing using a small part of the offices, but this work need not necessarily be undertaken in Wallsend. It had not been possible to sell the yard as a going concern, high levels of re-investment required make this unlikely. As such the future of the yard appeared to rest in alternative uses.
Following the closure of the Swan Hunter Yard in 2006, a report was commissioned in 2007 into the future of the North Bank of the Tyne. It identified a real opportunity to promote a 'Marine Industries Cluster/Centre' on the River Tyne North Bank. The report recommended an additional market assessment study and the preparation of a Strategic Framework and master plan for the whole of the North Bank area, which covers 600 hectares from Walker Riverside in Newcastle to Smiths Dock in North Shields.
The former Swan Hunter shipyard dominates the riverside at Wallsend. The yard remains apotentially attractive site as it retains infrastructure suitable for fabrication activities not found elsewhere on the river. The site is strategically important as it adjoins other sites to form a contiguous area stretching around the river to the existing Offshore Quay - forming a significantsite for larger opportunities such as those emerging from offshore wind fabrication.
The North Bank corridor of the River Tyne stretches from the Walker Riverside Industrial Park in Newcastle to Smiths Dock in North Shields. The area is characterised by a number of declining and/or disjointed land-uses including pockets of strategic employment uses adjacent to large areas of redundant and semi-redundant land, and small areas of isolated residential neighbourhoods. The scale of decline over recent years is quite significant but there are also high quality, mainly small businesses, located within the river corridor that form a core of new, high technology uses that can help drive the resurgence of the river corridor as a strategic employment location. These businesses are generally world leading and therefore operate in a global market, but are keen to remain and expand in their current location.
A study into the market demand for the River Tyne North Bank sites for continued employment uses identified significant opportunities to attract new businesses from the renewable energy and subsea technology (oil and gas) sectors. The increasing emphasis on reducing the impact of climate change using low carbon technologies is likely to see an increasing demand for these products, which the North Bank area could support. Traditional off-shore industries in the North Sea related to the exploration and production of oil and gas, have already benefited the area significantly but this is clearly entering its final phase and the growth in this sector is now likely to be related to decommissioning. However, the new coalition Government's confirmation of support for the latest phase of offshore wind farms to be developed offers significant new opportunities for the North Bank of the Tyne area in particular, with three proposed offshore sites, including Dogger Bank, which is the largest, being located in close proximity to the region.
By 2010 films were being made at Swan Hunter's shipyard, as the 40-acre site benefits from the local authority signing a filming agreement. North Tyneside Council added its name to The Northern Film and Media's Filming Friendly Charter around two years earlier. And since then, the borough has established itself as a one-stop-shop filming location - playing home to many high profile films and TV programs.
The link between the town and Swan Hunter's is key to understanding the development of Wallsend and its sense of place. The prevailing memory is the prominence of shipbuilding and the Swan Hunters factory which employed vast numbers of people, including several generations of the same family. The factory horn evoked memories of crowds of workers swarming through the town centre at lunchtimes and at the end of shifts.
Vickers-Armstrong, High Walker Yard Newcastle-on-Tyne England The High Walker Yard had been shut for almost three years between April 1928 (after Armstrongs merger with Vickers) and March 1930 when the yard was prepared for the construction of the Monarch of Bermuda. The Walker Yard tended to be regarded in the new company as secondary to the yard at Barrow which was kept in work permanently if possible. Consequently Walker closed again from November 1931 until May 1934 when it was prepared for the laying of the keel of the HMS Newcastle. The Walker yard was suitable for the construction of large ships, up to 1100 feet in length and therefore it was this type of work which tended to be carried out there. By the end of the 1930s orders were picking up again with conflict in Europe looming and rearmament under way.
The Walker Yard, now long gone, consisted of two slipways, one 1000' in length, long enough to build battleships, aircraft carriers, and cruisers, and capable of building destroyers two at a time. Many great warships were built at the yard before and during the Second World War.
In the post war period, Vickers embarked on a modernisation program at their Newcastle yard in order to prepare for prospective work on passenger and cargo vessels. The High Walker Yard formed part of the merger deal made by Vickers with Swan Hunter Shipbuilders in 1968 when a new company, Swan Hunter and Tyne Shipbuilders Ltd came into being. The 18 percent share holding that Vickers had in this group was sold at the end of 1969 and with it control of the Walker Yard passed to the Swan Hunter Group.
Armstrong Mitchell, Low Walker Yard Newcastle-on-Tyne England Many ships were completed under the Mitchell name up to 1882. The shipyard was founded by Charles Mitchell. He was born in Aberdeen on 20 May 1820. He then moved to Newcastle in 1852 to set-up his own Low Walker yard next to the Coutts yard.
Armstrong-Whitworth's, previously Charles Mitchell & Co's Low Walker yard, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland; had six building slips from 650 to 450ft long - mercantile, plus "War" cargo ships/tankers at the time of the Great War.
Armstrong, Sir W G, Whitworth & Co Ltd, Elswick, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland.
William Armstrong's original Elswick yard before taking over Charles Mitchell's Low Walker yard (2), and then building the High Walker Naval Yard five miles down-stream from Elswick. Company known as Armstrong-Whitworth from 1897, then Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Elswick yard - three big building slips, six smaller slips, prior claim to Hebburn graving dock (700x90ft) for dreadnoughts, all three yards totalled c25,000 employees including steel and ordnance works. Elswick was a private yard building warships prewar; by WW1 most warship construction transferred to High Walker; during the Great War.
Scott's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd (later Scott's of Greenock), Greenock, Renfrewshire
At the time of the Great War Scott's had six large building slips and four for smaller vessels, graving dock (369x 48ft), c2500 employees in shipyard, c2000 in engine works. Private yard building warships prewar; during war - mercantile, plus cruisers Caradoc, Dragon, monitor Sir John Moore, 12 destroyers, S-class submarines and others, 3 sloops, "War" cargo ships/tankers.
Beardmore, Wm, & Co Ltd, Naval Construction Works, Dalmuir, Dumbartonshire
At the time of the Great War Beardmore built vessels up to 900ft long, six big building slips, four smaller slips, c10,000 employees. Private yard building warships prewar; during war it built dreadnought Ramillies, carrier Argus, cruisers Galatea, Inconstant, Royalist, 15 destroyers, 2 sloops, 9 submarines, 4 small hospital ships, 20 X-lighters, dumb lighters (plus airships).
Brown, John & Co Ltd, Clydebank; Dumbartonshire
At the time of the Great War Brown had nine big slips, c 9000 employees. Private yard building warships prewar; during war it built capital ships Barham, Repulse, cruisers Canterbury, Ceres, 34 destroyers, 3 submarines, seaplane carrier Pegasus, "War" cargo ships
Yarrow & Co Ltd, Scotstoun, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Yarrow & Co moved from River Thames 1908in. Private yard building destroyers prewar; during the Great War it built 29 destroyers, 16 gunboats, 1 submarine, 3 hospital ships, floating workshop for RN,
Stephen, Alexander & Sons Ltd, Linthouse, Glasgow, Lanarkshire mercantile, plus 16 destroyers "War" tankers Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Govan, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
At the time of the Great War Fairfield had eleven building slips and 8500 employees. In 1913 the shipping / engine output was 33,000 tons/202,000hp. Private yard building destroyers prewar; during the war, it built capital ships Valiant, Renown, cruisers Cardiff, Carlisle, Colombo, 24 destroyers, 9 submarines, minor craft, AMC Avenger, "War" tankers.
Harland & Wolff Ltd (of Belfast), Govan, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
At the time of the Great War Harland and Wolff had six big building slips at Govan, Glasgow, Lanarkshire. Private yard building warships prewar; during the war it built mercantile, plus monitors Raglan, Prince Eugene, Erebus, Terror, 6 destroyers, 3 P-boats, 4 naval tugs, "War" cargo ships/tankers.
Harland & Wolff Ltd, Belfast, Co Antrim;
At the time of the Great War Harland and Wolff had six big building slips, three smaller, two large docks (850x100ft & 825x80ft), 15,000 employees at Belfast, Co Antrim. Private yard building warship machinery prewar; during the war it built mercantile, plus light battlecruiser Glorious, 7 monitors, 3 small monitors, cruiser Cavendish, "War" cargo ships/tankers
Vickers Ltd (previously Vickers, Son & Maxim Ltd; later Vickers-Armstrong Ltd to 1965), Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire;
At the time of the Great War Vickers had six big building slips, 18 smaller slips, local graving dock (500x60ft), c16,000 employees at Barrow-in-Furness, including ordnance works. Private yard building warships prewar; during the war it built battleships Erin, Emperor of India, Revenge, cruisers Penelope, Phaeton, Cassandra, Curlew, Calcutta, 64 E, G, H, K, L-class submarines, "War" tankers
Cammell, Laird & Co Ltd (previously Laird Brothers), Birkenhead & Tranmere, Cheshire; At the time of the Great War Cammell, Laird & Co had six large building slips, five small slips, two docks (No.6, 730x85ft & No.7, 880x95ft) capable of taking dreadnoughts, 8000 employees at Birkenhead & Tranmere, Cheshire. Private yard building warships prewar; during the war it built mercantile, plus 5 C-type light cruisers, 6 destroyers, 2 escorts, 8 submarines, conversions of Snaefell, King Orry, Ben-my-Chree, Campania, "War" cargo ships.
Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Co. Ltd, Blyth, Northumberland mercantile, plus seaplane carrier Ark Royal, 4 sloops, survey ship Merry Hampton, 10 lighters, "War" cargo ships.
Palmers of Jarrow Palmer's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Hebburn and Jarrow-on-Tyne, Co Durham ; fourteen building slips, docks at Hebburn (700x90ft) big enough for dreadnoughts, and Jarrow (440x70ft), 9000 employees. Private yard building warships prewar; during war - mercantile, plus dreadnought Resolution, cruiser Dauntless, 3 monitors, 18 destroyers, 2 submarines, "War" cargo ships.
Hawthorn, R & W, Leslie & Co. Ltd, Hebburn, Co Durham ; nine slips up to 700ft long, 3000 employees, engine output 150,000hp pa. Private yard building destroyers prewar; during war - mercantile, plus cruisers Champion, Calypso, 3 destroyers, 21 TBD's, "War" cargo ships.
Doxford, William & Sons Ltd., Pallion, Sunderland, Co Durham; vessels up to 20,000t dead-weight, reciprocating, turbine and diesel marine engines up to any size, average shipbuilding output over 100,000grt pa. Private yard building warships prewar; during war - mercantile, plus 21 destroyers, Shikari launched and completed by Chatham Dyd, "War" cargo ships.
Thornycroft, John I & Co Ltd (later Vosper Thornycroft Ltd), Woolston, Southampton, Hampshire; moved from River Thames 1904, c3500 employees, 1913 engine output 110,000hp. Private yard building light cruisers, destroyers torpedo boats, minelayers etc, up to 3500t prewar; during war - 24 destroyers, boom defence vessels, 3 submarines, decoy ship, naval tugs, other small craft.
White, J Samuel & Co Ltd, Cowes, Isle of Wight, Hampshire; seven building berths, engine works for reciprocating and turbine engines of highest powers, also diesel engines, 1800 employees. Private yard building torpedo boats and destroyers of largest types warships prewar; during war - 4 ex-Chilean destroyers, 16 more destroyers, 5 patrol boats, 6 Q-ships, 2 submarines.
- Appledore Shipbuilders Limited
- Austin & Pickersgill Ltd.
- Brooke Marine Limited
- Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Limited
- Clelands Shipbuilding Company Ltd.
- Ferguson Brothers (Port Glasgow) Limited
- The Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd.
- Govan Shipbuilders Limited
- Hall Russell & Company Ltd.
- Lithgows Limited
- Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Limited
- Scott and Sons (Bowling) Limited
- Scotts' Shipbuilding Company Limited
- Smith's Dock Company Ltd.
- Sunderland Shipbuilders Limited
- Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Limited
- Vickers Shipbuilding Group Limited
- Vosper Thornycroft Limited
- Yarrow (Shipbuilders) Limited
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Nuclear-powered attack (Trafalgar) submarines. Five vessels were delivered between 1985 and 1990 at a value of approximately £180 million per vessel (excluding GFE).
Nuclear-powered strategic deterrent (Trident) submarines. Two vessels have been delivered and two more are due for delivery between 1997 and 1999 as replacements for the Polaris submarines. The value of each vessel is approximately £600 million (excluding GFE.
Conventionally-powered (Upholder) submarines. Four Upholder class submarines were delivered between 1991 and 1993 (but subsequently decommissioned by the Royal Navy) at a value of £110 million for the first-of-class and £85 million for each of the remaining three.
Type 22 frigate. HMS Campbeltown was delivered in 1989 and was the last of its class. It was the last surface warship built at CL and cost approximately £95 million.
LPH. The first-of-class LPH (HMS Ocean) is scheduled for delivery in 1997. It is being built in partnership with KG.
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Mark 8 4.5 Inch gun mountings. Between 1985 and 1995 VSEL has delivered 22 naval guns to the Royal Navy and foreign governments. VSEL guns have been mounted on some of the Royal Navy's Type 22, and all of its Type 23, frigates and VSEL hoped it would be chosen to supply the Mark 8 4.5 Inch gun for the CNGF, although the provisional specification appears to preclude this. VSEL is currently the only UK manufacturer of Mark 8 4.5 Inch guns.
Towed howitzer (FH70). Between 1988 and 1993 VSEL delivered FH70 towed howitzers. This order was the last for the successful FH70 program which was developed in the 1960s and 1970s by an international consortium.
Tracked howitzers (AS90). In the late 1980s the British Army selected the AS90 as its new tracked artillery weapon and placed an order for 179 vehicles with VSEL worth in excess of £330 million of which £240 million was subcontracted.
On 02 March 2009 Babcock International Group PLC (Babcock), the Royal Navy's leading submarine support provider, announced the award of the Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)) contract for HMS Vigilant. The Secretary of State for Defence, Rt Hon John Hutton MP, today announced the three and a half year contract which is expected to be worth in excess of £300 million, during a visit to Babcock's Devonport Royal Dockyard, Plymouth, where the refit will be undertaken. HMS Vigilant is the third Vanguard class submarine to undergo LOP(R) at Devonport. Including the planning phase, the project will take five years, with HMS Vigilant remaining in dry dock until 2011 and completion scheduled for 2012. Babcock will be working closely with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) throughout this project under new contracting arrangements. These arrangements are expected to be similar to those to be contained in the Terms of Business Agreement (ToBA) currently being negotiated with the MoD. The ToBA supports greater transparency of information and incentivises high standards of safety and quality delivered at lower than contracted cost. Work to be undertaken includes the refuel and subsequent reactor commissioning, which dictates the overall duration of the project. This is supported by a major revalidation of all reactor systems, replacement of major equipment and tactical and strategic weapons updates. In addition the accommodation areas will be updated and a major external preservation work package undertaken. The project will involve more than 2.2 million man hours.
http://www.babcock.co.uk/default.aspx
Babcock International Group PLC is the UK's leading engineering support services organization with an order book in excess of £12 billion. Over 27,000 staff across the globe build, manage, operate and maintain assets that are vital to the delivery of may key public services, both in the UK and overseas. Defense, energy, telecommunications, transport and education are all sectors where Babcock can be found working diligently behind the scenes, delivering critical support.
In March 2010 defence services specialist VT Group agreed to an improved bid from rival Babcock in a deal worth some 1.4 billion pounds which creates one of Europe's biggest defence services groups. Following the acquisition, Babcock restructured the business into four customer-focussed Divisions.
Marine Division
Babcock is the UK's leading naval support business and has a unique role supporting the Royal Navy and the Ministry of Defence. Key activities include base porting, refitting, refuelling and decommissioning submarines; maintaining and refitting warships, building the next generation aircraft carriers, managing naval bases and providing equipment support on behalf of the UK Government.
In Babcock's core warship support activities Babcock has supported the Royal Navy with its continuous programme of refit and upgrade projects at both Devonport and Rosyth. A major docking period for the amphibious assault ship HMS Albion involved an especially large programme of upgrades and alterations and these were successfully completed, as were maintenance periods on a number of frigates and mine hunters at both Devonport and Rosyth. Under an alliance formed with MoD and one other industrial partner Babcock generated a pilot project focused on providing support for Type 22 frigates. The arrangement involved industry taking responsibility for delivering a specified level of warship availability at reduced cost compared to previous levels. Babcock had the opportunity to share in the savings that are generated under this arrangement, which is expected to extend to other classes of warship in due course.
As a Tier 1 alliance partner, Babcock play a key role in the UK's Aircraft Carrier Alliance. Babcock has significant design and manufacturing roles and are responsible for the assembly and integration at Rosyth. Babcock is a key member of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance that is designing, building, assembling and supporting the two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. Babcock received the first structural modules for HMS Queen Elizabeth at Rosyth, including the bow section from Babcock's Appledore facility. The assembly program at Rosyth required a number of modifications and upgrades to civil structures and other facilities. The main aspects of work to the dock where the ships will be assembled are complete.
As the UK's leading naval support business, Babcock plays a unique role supporting the Royal Navy. The company is a strategic partner and key naval engineering and support provider, working closely with the Ministry of Defence and Royal Navy to improve efficiency, reduce infrastructure costs and increase service availability of the submarine and surface ship fleets, to meet the operational needs of the Royal Navy, today and in the future.
Key activities include base porting, refitting, refuelling and decommissioning submarines; maintaining and refitting warships; building the next generation aircraft carriers; maintaining naval bases; and providing equipment support and training; while the company's Integrated Technology business unit brings together engineering, design, systems integration and platform management capabilities.
Babcock has a long term partnering agreement with the Royal Navy's training organisation, delivering bespoke training solutions, facilities management and construction services as well as offering customers around the world unrivalled access to the Navy's extensive training expertise and facilities. Click here to find out more.
Babcock is a leading provider of critical communications services in support of all three Armed Forces. Through the operation and maintenance of the UK MOD's high frequency and very low frequency defence communications facilities, Babcock ensures continued and improved communications in support of the front line. In addition, Babcock's expertise enables the design, integration and support of information communications technology (ICT) as well as the manufacture of specialist communication vehicle conversions.
Defence and Security Division
Babcock is a leading provider of engineering and support services to the British Army and Royal Air Force. The Defence and Security division is a major support provider to all three Armed Forces delivering leading-edge training and asset support. The division has a strong partnering relationship with its customers and a deep understanding of military ethos.
Babcock has over 70 years' experience of delivering flying training, aircraft provision and through-life support to the UK's armed forces. The UK's armed forces have some of the best aircrew in the world. The training they receive is vital for the ongoing success of missions, from protecting ground operations through transporting humanitarian aid to proving search and rescue services around Britain's coastline. Babcock provides the skilled professionals who ensure both the availability of assets and support infrastructure, and the safety of personnel.
As part of the Ascent consortium, Babcock provides the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS). UKMFTS caters for the flying training needs of the UK armed forces, by providing a cost-effective, coherent, flexible and integrated training capability. Babcock also deliver elementary and multi-engine flying training on a tri-Service basis to the UK Armed Forces, responsible for all aspects of equipment supply and engineering support including the provision of a fleet of T67 Slingsby Fireflies at the Defence Elementary Training School (DEFTS), Light Aircraft Flying Training (LAFT2) and Tucano In-Service Support (TISS).
Babcock plays a significant part in the delivery of Integrated Operational Support (IOS) contracts. Under the Hawk IOS contract, Babcock supports the entire UK-based Hawk TMk1 fleet, maintaining the aircraft and ensuring availability for their vital role in the fast-jet pilot training at RAF Valley, RAF Leeming, RNAS Culdrose and RNAS Yeovilton.
Babcock is a shareholder of Airtanker Services, responsible under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program+ for the delivery of new infrastructure at RAF Brize Norton including a two-bay hangar, support building and a training building with state-of-the-art simulator. In addition, Babcock is a primary subcontractor to the programme, supplying equipment and infrastructure and providing through-life support to the end of the contract.
Babcock provides training simulator maintenance for the Harrier GR9/7 full mission simulators at RAF Wittering, and also a large number of desktop training devices spread across the UK from Kinloss in Northern Scotland to Culdrose in Cornwall. The majority of equipment is located at RAFC Cranwell and RAF Cosford. Maintenance staff based in these centres undertake planned maintenance visits to a further 14 sites in addition to providing a call-out response across the UK.
Babcock operates a Multi-Activity Contract for the Royal Air Force providing logistical, airfield and administrative support to RAF Valley and its satellite airfield, RAF Mona. Activities include the maintenance and repair of airfield navigation and communication aids, as well as a Fire and Rescue service that provides continuous 24/7 cover. Additional services include the delivery of support for the regional airport, ranging from site-wide cleaning and waste recycling, IT and administration support, to management of a suite of machine and fabrication shops.
Babcock commenced the wheels and brakes element of the Commodity Availability Procurement System (CAPS) contract in January 2009 and is responsible for the maintenance of over 1,000 wheel and brake assemblies for the Hawk, Harrier, Nimrod and VC10 aircraft.
Babcock has a 30-year contract with the Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME), delivered by Holdfast Training Services, a Babcock led consortium. The partnership between the Army and Holdfast brings together the best qualities of industry, academia and UK Armed Forces to deliver acclaimed training at the Royal School of Military Engineering. By applying modern learning methodologies, the partnership is developing innovative training delivery solutions in support of vocational, graduate and post graduate qualifications.
Babcock manages and operates The Armour Centre, the Army's main armoured training facility, in Bovington Dorset - providing training, maintenance and support services for the Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) Driving and Maintenance School, AFV Communication and Information Systems School and the AFV Gunnery School.
Babcock works in partnership with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), managing and delivering a comprehensive range of courses and qualifications in the UK and overseas that are recognised as best in class. Supporting the front line, we deliver training in partnership with a range of defence equipment manufacturers.
With two Regional Prime Contracts, Babcock is the market leader in providing facilities management to the Defence Estates organisation and the Ministry of Defence. Using its in-house capabilities and a dedicated Tier1 supply chain, Babcock is able to manage expectations and deliver a wide range of services, enabling Defence Estates to focus on supporting military capability.
Through a joint venture, ALC, with its partner Amey plc, Babcock delivers the 16 year PFI C vehicles capability contract. Voted the top performing PFI contract 2006/07 the contract deploys 2,200 engineering support vehicles around the world on behalf of the Royal Engineers and Royal Logistics Corps. In addition to vehicle availability, the contract covers asset replacement and disposal, in fact most of the equipment acquisition (CADMID) cycle.
In partnership with Lex Vehicle Leasing, Babcock delivers the White Fleet contract providing a range of over 14,000 vehicles to the Ministry of Defence. A further 400 White and Green vehicles are managed and maintained in a 10 year contract as sub-contractor to Aspire Defence on the Allenby Connaught PFI.
Babcock builds and supports specialist military vehicles and is currently responsible for the detailed production planning, purchasing and manufacture of Jackal 2 4x4 patrol vehicles for delivery to support operations in Afghanistan.
http://www.vt-group.com/
Support Services Division
The Support Services Division delivers a broad range of training and support services to a number of civil government and blue-chip customers, including government departments, police authorities, fire and rescue authorities, local authorities and international companies. Services provided by the Division include: Equipment Support, Infrastructure Support, Education & Training and Communications.
International Division
In the USA, Babcock, operating as VT Group Inc., provides support to the US armed forces, ranging from the design and implementation of specific training programmes to the maintenance and logistics support of key assets, including communication systems, facilities, vehicles and aircraft. Babcock is a leading supplier of engineering support services to the energy, process, mining and construction industries in Africa. With a presence in both Oman and the United Arab Emirates, Babcock is able to bring management capability and engineering support service expertise to the Middle East, building local partnerships to deliver world-class services.
BAE operates the former Vosper Thornycroft shipyard in Portsmouth. VT significantly reduced its exposure to MoD spending in recent years. VT, which started life in the mid-19th century as the Vosper Thornycroft shipyard, sold its naval shipbuilding interests in 2009 to BAE Systems to focus on the support services sector. It has large training contracts with the British military and other government departments. The two groups merged their dockyards in 2008 in a deal that created the last big shipbuilder in Britain. BVT, as the shipbuilder is called, included VT's dockyard in Portsmouth as well as BAE's yards at Scotstoun and Govan on the Clyde. The new company was Britain's biggest shipbuilder and had the lion's share of a £3.9 billion contract to build two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers. In January 2009 VT exercised an option to sell its share of the joint venture to BAE for £380 million.
Vosper Thornycroft, as the company was called after the two merged in 1966, was nationalised in the 1970s and became part of British Shipbuilding. It was bought out by its management in 1985 for £19 million and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1988. By 2009 it had a market capitalisation of £1 billion after developing its services business in the 1990s, when ship orders began to collapse.
hull block 1 at Babcock Rosyth hull block 2 at VT Group Portsmouth hull block 3 at BAES Barrow hull block 4 at BAES Govan Massive sections of Britain's first new aircraft carrier were shipped up the Firth of Forth on 08 April 2010, ahead of assembly work beginning at Rosyth. The massive bow segments, each higher than three double-decker buses, were brought to Scotland from Babcock's construction yard in Devon. Each will form part of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, an aircraft carrier central to the UK's future defence policy which is due to enter service in 2014. A second ship, the HMS Prince of Wales, will also be completed by 2016.
Key Design Facts Length: 280m - 90m longer than the existing (CVS) aircraft carrier Width: 70m - twice the width of the existing (CVS) aircraft carrier Aircraft: 40 aircraft - double the capacity of the existing (CVS) aircraft carrier. The JCA is expected to carry at least twice the useful payload of the Harrier. Complement: 682 - similar to the much smaller CVS (c726). With the airgroup, the total complement is 1,600, which is only about 500 more than CVS in a ship three times the size. Weapon systems: QE Class is designed to receive the latest generation of Phalanx close-in weapon system for defence of vessel. Also designed to receive 30mm guns and mini-guns located to counter asymmetric threats. Power generation: 2 x Rolls-Royce MT30 Gas Turbines and 4 x Diesel Generator Sets giving total installed power of 110MWe Range: 8,000 to10,000 nautical miles (at least 1,000 nautical miles further than CVS). Physical Size The carrier will be a similar size and weight to the ocean liner QE2. 65,000 tonnes displacement which equates to nearly 600 blue whales. From keel to masthead the ship is 56m high - 6m higher than Nelson's Column. . 280m long, which equates to 28 London Double Decker buses. Through increased automation, total crew numbers will only be two fifths more than on the current Invincible class, even though the QE Class is three times the size. 1.5 million square metres of paintwork, which is 30 acres or more than 8 times the area of the Forth Road bridge (or slightly more than the area of Hyde Park). The design displaces about three times as much as an Invincible-class ship, has four times the internal hull volume, carries 70% more ship and aircraft fuel and has 75% more un-refuelled range. Flight Deck & Hangar The flight deck area is nearly 16000m2, equivalent to 60 tennis courts or almost 3 football pitches. Runway length is 261m, equivalent to the length of two and a half football pitches. The hangar is 163m in length with parking for up to 20 JCA- it is large enough to hold 6 spread Chinook helicopters. The internal hangar surface area is nearly 5000m2, the equivalent of 18 tennis courts. A surge complement of 36 Joint Strike Fighters and 4 Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control helicopters can be embarked - a combined aircraft weight of over 1000 tonnes and double the aircraft capacity of the current CVS carriers. Mission System The QEC mission system brings together one of the largest and most complex heterogeneous suites of hardware and software ever to be hosted on a maritime platform. The Mission System infrastructure has 318km of wired cabling equivalent of stretching a copper cable from London to Liverpool. Propulsion & Electrical Generation & Distrbution The gas turbines and diesel generators provide electricity and propulsion produce a total power output of 109MW - the equivalent of the power needed to run a town the size of Swindon. (or equivalent to 9100 homes) - or 7 million energy saving light bulbs. The carriers will have the latest marine power and propulsion technology giving significant improvements in fuel efficiency and reducing running costs and environmental impact. There is 2.2 million metres of electrical cable, which equates to the distance from London to Tromsø in Norway. Auxiliary Systems 112 km of pipework or the equivalent of the distance from Bristol to Oxford. There is 42km of ventilation ducting on board, which is more than the distance run in a marathon (40km). Using the plants on board, 319 thousand litres of fresh water can be produced on board in a day - enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool. Habitability 1630 bunks which is more than 4 times those in Great Ormond Street Hospital. QEC has 1650 doors on board, which is almost the same as Buckingham Palace (1514). There are 28000 light bulbs on board, which is 2/3 of the number in Buckingham Palace (40000). http://www.aircraftcarrieralliance.co.uk/the-ships.aspx Following the announcement of the Strategic Defence and Security Review in November 2010, the QE Class aircraft carriers will undergo some design adaptations. Both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will be built and the work on these vessels will subsequently continue to support around 10,000 jobs in the UK. Changes to the design from the original Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) design with the ramp on the bow, to the Carrier Variant (CV) model, which will incorporate an angled flight deck along with catapults and arrestor wires (cats and traps). The Aircraft Carrier Alliance set up defined teams to coordinate the modifications to the programme, with a range of options currently being examined to ensure that together, the ACA delivers the program to meet the Ministry of Defence's new requirements.
The completion of the two modules; the bulbous bow, which is similar in size to the front of a submarine and the upper bow section will collectively weigh around 400 tonnes, which is equivalent to almost 40 double decker buses and when positioned end to end will reach over 50 metres in length. The ships will be constructed at six ship yards around the UK and each block will be transported to Rosyth for final assembly in the Number One Dock, which is the largest dry dock in the UK. Work is already underway at ship yards in Devon, Glasgow, Portsmouth, Rosyth and Tyneside, with Merseyside starting work on the Queen Elizabeth this summer.
Key facts about the Queen Elizabeth Class The QE Class Aircraft Carriers will be the largest surface warships ever constructed for the UK and represent a step change in joint capability 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 carrier Width: 70m - twice the width of the existing aircraft carrier Range; 8,000 to 10,000 nautical miles The first ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to enter service in 2016 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, which is four metres taller than Niagra Falls! 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) 1.5 million m2 of paintwork, which is 370 acres or slightly more than acreage of Hyde Park 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 Capable of a top speed in excess of 25 knots, sufficient to cross from Dover to Calais in an hour 80,000 tonnes of steel is on order for the two ships, three times that used in Wembley Stadium 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 Each of the QE Class aircraft carriers can take up to 40 aircraft, which is double the capacity existing aircraft carrier. The Joint Combat Aircraft expected to carry at least twice the useful payload of the Harrier. The 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 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 110MW power station on board each ship - that's enough to provide all of Portsea Island with power The ship's Long Range radar is the same size as a large mobile home The anchors will be 3.1m high, each weighing 13 tonnes - almost as much as a double decker bus Water treatment plant onboard: The ships will produce over 500 tonnes of fresh water daily £1.2BN worth of sub contracts for work on the QE On 10 December 2010 Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said Russia is not planning to build any new aircraft carriers in the foreseeable future. "No, there are no such plans," he said. His comment came in response to remarks earlier in the day by an unnamed Defense Ministry source who said Russia would start the construction of a new series of aircraft carriers. "Four aircraft carriers are needed to ensure the Navy's effective operation. The Defense Ministry will not abandon the idea of building such warships," the source said. "Before 2020, Russia will start the construction of a series of aircraft carriers - up to four in all." Navy head Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said in August that a technical project for an advanced aircraft carrier would be ready by the end of the year. Naval experts earlier said a new aircraft carrier would be nuclear powered with displacement of 50,000-60,000 tons.
The two new super carriers would be ready by 2020, with at least one being possibly mothballed without an aircraft having ever flown from it.
A new program of defence co-operation between the UK and France has been announced by British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy 02 November 2010. The program is to be delivered through an overarching Defence Co-operation Treaty, a subordinate treaty relating to a joint nuclear facility, a letter of intent signed by Defence Ministers and a package of joint defence initiatives. The measures agreed between the UK and France include building primarily on maritime task group co-operation around the French carrier Charles de Gaulle - the UK and France will aim to have, by the early 2020s, the ability to deploy a UK-French integrated carrier strike group incorporating assets owned by both countries.
The outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which sets out how the Government will deliver the priorities identified in the National Security Strategy, was published Tuesday 19 October 2010.
"We will need to operate only one aircraft carrier. We cannot now foresee circumstances in which the UK would require the scale of strike capability previously planned. We are unlikely to face adversaries in large-scale air combat. We are far more likely to engage in precision operations, which may need to overcome sophisticated air defence capabilities. The single carrier will therefore routinely have 12 fast jets embarked for operations while retaining the capacity to deploy up to the 36 previously planned, providing combat and intelligence capability much greater than the existing Harriers. It will be able to carry a wide range of helicopters, including up to 12 Chinook or Merlin transports and eight Apache attack helicopters. The precise mix of aircraft will depend on the mission, allowing the carrier to support a broad range of operations including landing a Royal Marines Commando Group, or a Special Forces Squadron conducting a counterterrorism strike, assisting with humanitarian crises or the evacuation of UK nationals.
A single carrier needs to be fully effective. As currently designed, the Queen Elizabeth will not be fully interoperable with key allies, since their naval jets could not land on it. Pursuit of closer partnership is a core strategic principle for the Strategic Defence and Security Review because it is clear that the UK will in most circumstances act militarily as part of a wider coalition. We will therefore install catapult and arrestor gear. This will delay the in-service date of the new carrier from 2016 to around 2020. But it will allow greater interoperability with US and French carriers and naval jets. It provides the basis for developing joint Maritime Task Groups in the future. This should both ensure continuous carrier-strike availability, and reduce the overall carrier protection requirements on the rest of the fleet, releasing ships for other naval tasks such as protection of key sea-lanes, or conducting counter- piracy and narcotics operations.
The strike needs to be made more capable. Installing the catapult and arrestor will allow the UK to acquire the carrier-variant of Joint Strike Fighter ready to deploy on the converted carrier instead of the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant. This version of the jet has a longer range and greater payload: this, not large numbers of aircraft, is the critical requirement for precision strike operations in the future. The UK plans to operate a single model of JSF, instead of different land and naval variants. Overall, the carrier-variant of the JSF will be cheaper, reducing through-life costs by around 25%....
"To provide further insurance against unpredictable changes in that strategic environment, our current plan is to hold one of the two new carriers at extended readiness. That leaves open options to rotate them, to ensure a continuous UK carrier-strike capability; or to re-generate more quickly a two-carrier strike capability. Alternatively, we might sell one of the carriers, relying on cooperation with a close ally to provide continuous carrier-strike capability. The next strategic defence and security review in 2015 will provide an opportunity to review these options as the future strategic environment develops. Retaining this flexibility of choice is at the core of the Government's adaptable approach."
The outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which sets out how the Government will deliver the priorities identified in the National Security Strategy, was published Tuesday 19 October 2010. In order to meet this new structure the Royal Navy will decommission HMS Ark Royal immediately; decommission either the helicopter landing ship HMS Ocean or HMS Illustrious following a short study of which would provide the most effective helicopter platform capability, and place one landing and command ship at extended readiness.
"The current, limited carrier-strike capability will be retired. We must face up to the difficult choices put off by the last Government. Over the next five years combat air support to operations in Afghanistan must be the over-riding priority: the Harrier fleet would not be able to provide this and sustain a carrier-strike role at the same time. Even after 2015, short-range Harriers - whether operating from HMS Illustrious or HMS Queen Elizabeth - would provide only a very limited coercive capability. We judge it unlikely that this would be sufficiently useful in the latter half of the decade to be a cost-effective use of defence resources."
Fleet flagship HMS Ark Royal returned to her home port of Portsmouth for the final time 03 December 2010, ending 25 years of service to the Royal Navy across the globe. The aircraft carrier is being decommissioned early in 2011 and sailed into Portsmouth Naval Base following a brief farewell tour of the UK and a stopover in Hamburg. As the Harrier departed from the deck of HMS ARK ROYAL for the final time 10 December 2010, flown by Lt Cdr James Blackmore of the Fleet Air Arm, the event was recorded for posterity from a Sea King ASaC of 849 Squadron based at RNAS Culdrose. Four Harriers were embarked in HMS Ark Royal for her final voyage before being decommissioned next year. Fittingly, the final sortie involved practice Air Combat and was controlled by the Sea King crew using the powerful Searchwater Radar.
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