British warship undergoing repairs in Rosyth has spent more time being fixed than at sea

A British warship, which is currently undergoing repairs in Rosyth, has spent more time being fixed than at sea.

The £3.2 billion HMS Prince of Wales, the largest ship in the British fleet, has been at the Fife dockyard since it broke down off the Isle of Wight in August.

Babcock says it “remains focused” on completing the work to fix a problem with the carrier’s propeller shaft, despite estimates suggesting it won’t be seaworthy again until spring 2023.

Labour are now calling on the UK Government to come clean on when the ship will be able to leave Rosyth and go back to sea.

Repairs won’t be finished until spring 2023

The ship was first commissioned into the Royal Navy in December 2019 but in 2022 it suffered a leak in its engine room and the roof in an accommodation block collapsed.

More than 100 crew also had to spend a night that year on its sister ship the HMS Queen Elizabeth when the HMS Prince of Wales temporarily lost power.

Between October 2020 and April 2021 the ship spent 193 days having the floodwater damage repaired at an estimated cost of £3.3 million.

Earlier this year the ship then broke down when it was leaving Portsmouth for the US to take part in a joint exercise and was forced to return to Rosyth for more repairs.

It is not due to leave Babcock Rosyth until March 2023.

According to The Times this means that since it was commissioned the ship has spent just 267 days at sea, compared to 271 days undergoing repairs (as of December 27, 2022).

HMS Queen Elizabeth has replaced the HMS Prince of Wales on overseas deployment in the meantime.

‘Deeply frustrating’

Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey says the government needs to be honest about when the ship will return to the water.

He said: “When threats are rising and the number of Navy ships are set to fall, we need our fleet at sea, not stuck in the dock.

“HMS Prince of Wales is a Nato flagship and ministers cannot allow problems to undermine the ability of our armed forces to lead joint exercises.”

Chief of defence staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said the problems were “deeply frustrating”, and a spokesman for the Royal Navy added: “Repairs to HMS Prince of Wales’s starboard shaft are expected to be completed by spring.

“The ship will then return to Portsmouth for a pre-planned maintenance period.”