The departure of beleaguered Royal Navy plane service HMS Prince of Wales to go for repairs has been delayed after engineers weren't in a position to take away the broken propeller in time.
The £3 billion warship broke down off the Isle of Wight in August after crusing from Portsmouth Naval Base to participate in flight trials and diplomatic visits within the US.
Inspections by divers and engineers discovered that the 33-ton starboard propeller – the identical weight as 30 Ford Fiesta vehicles – had malfunctioned, with a coupling holding it in place breaking.
The 65,000-tonne ship was introduced again to Portsmouth for additional examination by engineers from Babcock earlier than the choice was taken for it to journey to Rosyth, the place it was constructed, to endure the repairs in dry dock.
Work was persevering with through the weekend to take away the large propeller however it's understood that this was not accomplished in time for the deliberate crusing on Monday afternoon.
Divers are persevering with to work on the ship however it's not anticipated to sail, assisted by a tug, till at the very least later this week due to a storm with heavy winds forecast on Wednesday.
The Navy has not commented on how lengthy the repairs are anticipated to take and the way lengthy HMS Prince of Wales will probably be absent from its function as Nato flagship however it's understood to be months reasonably than weeks.
Its sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth modified its autumn plans to journey to the US to take over a number of the deliberate engagements, together with internet hosting the Atlantic Future Discussion board in New York – a defence convention aimed toward strengthening UK and US bonds.
Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, director of Pressure Technology, who's accountable for ensuring Royal Navy ships are able to deploy, beforehand defined the fault suffered by HMS Prince of Wales.
He mentioned: “Royal Navy divers have inspected the starboard shaft of the ship and the adjoining areas they usually have confirmed there may be important injury to the shaft on the propeller and a few superficial injury to the rudder however no injury to the remainder of the ship.
“Our preliminary evaluation has proven that coupling that joins the ultimate two sections of the shaft has failed.
“Now, that is an especially uncommon fault and we proceed to pursue all restore choices.”
A Royal Navy spokesman mentioned: “HMS Prince of Wales is making ready to sail to Rosyth to endure repairs to her proper propeller shaft.
“The total extent of the repairs will probably be recognized as soon as the ship has entered dry dock.
“We're dedicated to getting HMS Prince of Wales again on operations, defending the nation and our allies, as quickly as potential.”