Image source: topwar.ru
British sources confirm the information that the deadlines for the completion of the repair of the aircraft carrier Prince of Wales will have to be shifted again. As it turned out, the contractor will not be able to meet the deadline, which means that it is impossible to complete the repair of a warship worth more than 3 billion pounds sterling until the spring of 2023.
The official representative of the British Navy:
Repairs are being carried out due to the fact that HMS Prince of Wales broke down during its voyage towards the United States for a "diplomatic visit". This visit was planned in August 2022 at the same time and as a stage of sea trials. As a result, the visit did not take place, the tests were considered unsuccessful, since the British aircraft carrier lost its course in the Isle of Wight area. A group of divers working on the spot at that time found the clutch of the right propeller, which weighs about 33 tons, broken.
The aircraft carrier with a displacement of 65 thousand tons had to be towed back to the port of Plymouth, from which it did not depart even a couple of dozen nautical miles. Several stages of the aircraft carrier research have already been carried out in Plymouth by the engineers who designed it. Repairs are being carried out in a dry dock at the Babcock shipyard, where this huge ship was eventually moved.
At the moment, there is no exact information as to when exactly all the necessary repairs will be completed. But it is known that their cost continues to grow.