Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

[inch]

Be great to know what they learned in the exercise ,but we never going to be told that ,or what the lessons the usmc took away from it and what they think of lizzy

[Poiuytrewq]

what the lessons the usmc took away from it and what they think of lizzy

We might get to hear about that.

[SKB]

Be great to know what they learned in the exercise

"We have learnt that we need to buy more planes and to stop scrounging them off the Septics.", someone in the MoD didn't say today.

[Poiuytrewq]

Minor issue but prepare for the headlines!

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defen ... od-3005579

[PhillyJ]

Minor issue but prepare for the headlines!

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defen ... od-3005579

Indeed, she seemed to be floating well enough when we went past on a harbour tour this morning but no doubt she was close to sinking...

[SKB]

[SKB]

(The News, Portsmouth) 21st October 2020

Wow! Pic of the day goes to John Austin from Gosport who took this beautiful Trafalgar Day rainbow falling on HMS Queen Elizabeth. Just perfect!

[Ron5]

Hope there's a pot of defense gold at the end of it.

[Scimitar54]

Greenpeace credentials as “Rainbow Warrior”???

[Digger22]

A few QE shots on the 6pm news tonight, for those with i-player, nothing new though.

[BlueD954]

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.p ... -navy.html

BAE advertising the Queen Elizabeth-classes at the virtual Euronaval exhibition

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.p ... -navy.html

[Ron5]

I expect a virtual line quickly formed at their virtual booth to place some virtual orders

[seaspear]

The promotion listed a top speed of 25 knots I seem to recall it was approaching 30 on trials

[Timmymagic]

The promotion listed a top speed of 25 knots I seem to recall it was approaching 30 on trials

They're not allowed to state the top speed. 25 knots is the contractual minimum top speed, at end of life (50 years) with worn machinery, dirty hull and all growth margin used up.

QE did hit over 29 knots on builders trials, then the AIS was switched off. There was an interview in The Engineer magazine when she was floated out where a member of the programme stated that QE would be capable of at least 32 knots. If they've hit that....she's actually the fastest carrier in service (or planned).

[Wrekin1410]

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/hms-que ... ed-trials/

Dug out this link to an article in UK Defence Journal about the carriers speed.

[serge750]

The promotion listed a top speed of 25 knots I seem to recall it was approaching 30 on trials

They're not allowed to state the top speed. 25 knots is the contractual minimum top speed, at end of life (50 years) with worn machinery, dirty hull and all growth margin used up.

QE did hit over 29 knots on builders trials, then the AIS was switched off. There was an interview in The Engineer magazine when she was floated out where a member of the programme stated that QE would be capable of at least 32 knots. If they've hit that....she's actually the fastest carrier in service (or planned).

Thought the big o" American CVN's were over 33knts? but they do have 250 000hp !!! compared to only 130 000 ? for a QEC

[SKB]

Four props on a Nimitz compared to two on a QEC. Thats all you need to know.

[seaspear]

Reading more on the MT30 perhaps explains why the ship has been able to achieve this speed ,I have included this article the last sentence brings back some memories lol
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/rolls-roy ... -the-seas/

[Timmymagic]

Thought the big o" American CVN's were over 33knts? but they do have 250 000hp !!! compared to only 130 000 ? for a QEC

I'm afraid not. They top out at 31.5 knots. There isn't any secret sauce that will get them beyond that.

The fastest carriers ever were the Forrestal's.....Enterprise was the fastest nuke at 33.5 knots.

[Old RN]

I very much doubt 32kt - I would expect about 28+? It is important to understand that drag is a square (or even cube) funtion of speed. I was on a County class in the 1970s and we could reach 27kt on steam plant only (30,000hp) and 32kt with gas turbines (30,000hp) added. So QE at 28kt on 80MW and Nimitz at 32kt on just over twice as much sounds reasonable.

[Timmymagic]

I very much doubt 32kt - I would expect about 28+?

QE did 29.5 knots on builders trials a few days after she left Rosyth for the first time. AIS was then shut off at that point, which would indicate they were taking her faster.

It's all academic anyway. Both QE and the US CVN's can maintain a high enough speed for flight ops in low wind conditions and thats all that matters. Nuclear power makes sense for the USN as they have the huge area of the Pacific to contend with (and even if the escorts need refuelling not having to worry about the biggest and thirstiest ship makes life easier). Doing the maximum speed will inevitably increase the chance of an engineering casualty anyway. The only big surprise in carrier speeds out there is the low maximum speed of CdG (27 knots), especially in relation to her predecessors of the Clemenceau Class who could hit 32 knots. Given the age of the oldest Nimitz Class, and the time since their last full overhauls (and how hard the USN works them) you'd have to question just how many could get close to their max speed as well.

[Roders96]

Important to think about weight of embarked stores also - operations compared to trials are a completely different kettle of fish.

[Scimitar54]

But we do know for a fact, that HMS QE reached 29.2 Knots (before AIS was switched off) during sea trials.

[Ron5]

But we do know for a fact, that HMS QE reached 29.2 Knots (before AIS was switched off) during sea trials.

An empty QE. And switching off AIS doesn't necessarily mean they went faster. But let me not stop the 32 knot fantasies.

[Scimitar54]

29.2 is MORE THAN 28 knots!