Building the ships of tomorrow

**Alastair** · 3rd September 2010, 19:02

Scotland built the largest passenger liner in 1938 but is still making shipping news even today.

Seventy-two years ago, the largest passenger liner ever seen was launched in Scotland on the River Clyde.

The Cunard line's RMS Queen Elizabeth, capable of seating 2283 passengers and 1000 crew, left Slipway 4 of the John Brown and Company yard in Clydebank. The floating of Elizabeth, designed to carry mail between the UK and New York, cemented Scotland's position as a global shipbuilding powerhouse.

Now a new golden age of marine engineering is beckoning, with Scotland's shipyards playing a key role in the delivery of the largest craft ever commissioned for national defence.

Setting new standards
The global industry may have declined since thousands watched Elizabeth's launch in 1938 but Scotland's reputation for excellence in the field remains intact.

International banks, luxury retail malls and digital media organisations now occupy many of the former boat yards on the regenerated Clyde waterfront, but Scotland's maritime engineers continue to deliver the same excellence.

In July 2008, the Ministry of Defence announced it was to embark on a building programme for the largest ships ever to enter Royal Navy service.

A significant part of that £39 billion Future Aircraft Carrier project will be completed in Scotland and work is already underway on the Clyde and in Fife.

Two of the largest blocks of the two super ships, the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will be built in Glasgow by BAE Systems in their Govan and Scotstoun yards.

The massive bow section and the assembly of the entire ships' parts will be undertaken at Number One dock at Rosyth – the largest dry dock in Britain, owned by Babcock Marine.

These ships will be the size of three football pitches in length and the aircraft will be stationed in hangars below deck, each hangar the size of 12 Olympic swimming pools.

It is hardly surprising then that a three-year programme is aiming to recruit 1000 new Scottish engineers to meet the demand of an industry which is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK.

"It's a fantastic time to be involved in engineering in Scotland. The training you get by working on naval vessels is absolutely first class," said Peter Hughes, Chief Executive of Scottish Engineering. "The chances young engineers coming into training are going to get over the next 10 years, 20 years and beyond are fantastic and deserving of envy."

An unrivalled pedigree
At its peak, shipbuilding in Scotland employed 100,000 people. In 1913 there was more tons of shipping launched in Scotland than in America and Germany combined.

As well as RMS Queen Elizabeth, which remained the largest passenger liner in the world for 56 years, Scottish yards were also responsible for famous ships like the QE2 and the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Now the modern Scottish yards are becoming centres of excellence for complex warship construction and repair.

Contracts flooding in
Not only will the Royal Navy Future Aircraft Carrier project buoy the industry for the next decade, order books are brimming.

Another major contract which has seen a record investment in Clyde yards is the £5.5 billion Type 45 Air Defence Destroyer Programme. Six ships – the most advanced of their kind in the world – have been built on the Clyde by BAE Systems Surface Ships. The first of these vessels, the £605 million HMS Daring, was the biggest ever launched at Scotstoun when it left the slipway in 2006.

Since then, HMS Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon and Defender have left BAE's Govan yard, with tens of thousands of people lining the dockside each time. The final ship, HMS Duncan is expected to be launched later this year.

Each vessel measures 150 metres long and is capable of greater firepower than the entire Type 42 fleet they have been built to replace.

Accommodation for servicemen and women is luxurious, with on-board fitness centres and the best in communications technology, including internet connections and individual ipod docks.

Opportunities for tomorrow
With major contracts to service, opportunities are opening up for the next generation of Scottish engineers and shipbuilders. BAE Systems Surface Ships runs the largest private apprenticeship programme in Scotland and employs 4000 people across its two Clyde yards.

Rosyth is the UK's main location for the maintenance of the Royal Navy’s fleet of ships and Babcock Marine employs 1300 highly skilled workers, including a growing number of apprentice engineers. Scotland is also the only part of the UK offering a new HNC Shipbuilding Qualification which will be recognised throughout the industry.

It may be over seven decades since the world witnessed the launch of the largest ever passenger liner on the Clyde, RMS Queen Elizabeth, but Scotland still boasts an enviable reputation when it comes to constructing first-class ships. 'Scottish-built', it seems, is still a badge of honour the world is proud to wear.

**1938 Observer** · 3rd September 2010, 22:34

Read about the Type 45 Destroyers......

Royal Navy's most advanced destroyer sets course into service
An Equipment and Logistics news article
3 Aug 10

While appearing at Portsmouth Navy Days the first of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 Class destroyers, HMS Daring, was declared formally available for tasking on Saturday 31 July 2010.

HMS Daring was commissioned into the Royal Navy fleet in July 2009. Since then the ship has been undertaking a series of MOD-managed trials and acceptance activities to test and confirm the ship's technical capability and ensure that it is ready to join the Royal Navy as a front line warship. read more at the link

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/De...ntoService.htm

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VIDEO: Navy destroyers double up for defence manoeuvres

15 Feb 2010: The Royal Navy's two newest warships, the air defence destroyers HMS Daring and Dauntless, perform side-by-side at sea during Officer of the Watch manoeuvres south of the Isle of Wight

video & transcript at the link......

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Vi...Manoeuvres.htm