The stricken £3bn flagship of the Royal Navy is heading back to Rosyth in Fife for repairs.
HMS Prince of Wales is currently travelling up the North Sea and will then undergo what is thought to be months worth of work.
It was due to leave Portsmouth, where it is based, on Monday, a departure that was delayed twice due to technical issues until it finally left at 11pm on Friday.
It is being escorted by commercial tug Njord Viking.
The warship was built in Rosyth which is why it is going there.
But what is the story behind the ship and how long will it be in Fife?
What is HMS Prince of Wales?
HMS Prince of Wales, sister ship of HMS Queen Elizabeth, is an aircraft carrier and one of the most powerful surface warships ever constructed in the UK.
It was built in Rosyth at a cost of £3bn. Construction started in 2011, the ship launched on December 21, 2017. It was handed to the Navy two years later.
It is the Navy’s largest warship. Its flight deck measures 70 metres wide and 280 metres long, equivalent to three football pitches.
It weighs 65,000 tonnes and can carry and embark as many as 40 helicopters.
It will have at least 700 crew, increasing to 1,600 when aircraft are on board and its stores can hold 45 days worth of food at one time.
It will be used for several things including humanitarian relief, high intensity warfighting and fighting terrorism.
What happened to it?
In August, the warship broke down off the Isle of Wight after sailing from Portsmouth Naval Base to take part in flight trials and diplomatic visits in the US.
Inspections by divers and engineers found that the Nato flagship’s 33-ton starboard propeller – the same weight as 30 Ford Fiesta cars – had malfunctioned and its shaft gained significant damage.
There is also superficial damage to the propeller’s rudder but no damage to the rest of the ship.
.@HMSPWLS finally made it out of Portsmouth late last night.
Running on a single shaft, she is being escorted on her way to Rosyth by commercial tug Njord Viking.
Via @PortsmouthProud pic.twitter.com/68JCFYognr
— Navy Lookout (@NavyLookout) October 8, 2022
A coupling that was holding the propeller in place also broke.
Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, director of Force Generation, who is responsible for making sure Royal Navy ships are ready to deploy, called the fault “extremely unusual”.
The carrier was taken back to Portsmouth for further examination by engineers from Babcock before the decision was taken for it to travel to Rosyth to undergo repairs in dry dock.
How long will it be in Fife?
The Royal Navy has not said how long the repairs at Rosyth are expected to last and how long HMS Prince of Wales will be absent from its role as Nato flagship.
However, it is understood this will be for months rather than weeks.
A spokesperson said: “The full extent of the repairs will be known once the ship has entered dry dock.
“We are committed to getting HMS Prince of Wales back on operations, protecting the nation and our allies, as soon as possible.”
The ship’s troubled past
Despite only being five years old, the ship has already experienced some issues.
In May 2020 it experienced minor flooding, followed by more significant flooding in October that year that damaged electric cabling.
Conversation