HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

News and discussion threads concerning defence personnel and their units.

Should HMNB Portsmouth have its own large drydock suitable for a QE class aircraft carrier?

Please note that results are sorted by decreasing number of votes received.

Yes, build a new drydock or enlarge an existing drydock
30
73%
No, Rosyth's and Toulon's are adequate
11
27%
 
Total votes: 41

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Good article (with photos too) on Navy Lookout about the upgrades made to HMNB Portsmouth for the QE class carriers.
https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/portsm ... -carriers/

One of the photos:
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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Portsmouth South MP, Stephen Morgan (who I didn't vote for) has written to the Prime Minister to urge him to build a QE sized drydock within HMNB Portsmouth.
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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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(Warship TV) 31st December 2019
A whale is seen stuck on the bow of the Liberian container ship MV Cote D'lvoirian Star whilst in Portsmouth Harbour on 31st December 2019. The whale is believed to have either died because of the accident or was already dead, and is believed to have occoured in the English Channel or Bay of Biscay.

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Just for the record, QE's LB02 bow block, forward island and LB05 stern blocks were all built in Portsmouth.












And the aft island's polemast too.

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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(@SimeonHawkins) 12th March 2020

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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(The National Museum of the Royal Navy) 29th April 2020
Take a walk through the historic dockyard at Portsmouth and get a taste of some of the incredible things in our collection.

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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(@Strong IslandUK) 12th July 2020
Big thank you to Portsmouth Port for having us document the arrival of Majesty of the Seas in to Portsmouth on Friday (10th July 2020). This is the largest ship to come into the port.
Majesty Of The Seas, carrying no passengers (because of Coronavirus) used the newly extended 240m long Berth 2 at Portsmouth International Port ("PIP"). The original Berth 2 has been extended with two new 'dolphins' which are connected by walkway bridges. The MS Marco Polo was the first cruise ship to use the extended Berth 2 on 31st May 2020.

And then Majesty Of The Seas left the next day after crew repatriation and restocking stores....

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(@Andrew_SW) 11th July 2020


(RCISam) 11th July 2020
Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas departs Portsmouth for the first time. Just arrived into Portsmouth, 10th July morning. This is the largest cruise ship to ever call into the port: surprisingly. Additionally, Majesty is the 2nd smallest ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Scimitar54
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Emergency Berth for a 3rd QEC is available then! :mrgreen:

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Scimitar54 wrote:Emergency Berth for a 3rd QEC is available then! :mrgreen:
Sadly not. Berth 2 has been dredged to 8.7m deep, which is adequate for a cruise ship. The QEC's draft is 11m.


(Knights Brown) 10th July 2020
Knights Brown has been responsible for the design and construction of the leveling and extension of Berth 2 so that it could accommodate much larger ships (up to 255 metres in length) essentially opening up much more of the cruise market to Portsmouth International Port.

The is a timelapse video of the whole project, through to July 2020.

Scimitar54
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

Post by Scimitar54 »

Just have to get on with the conversion of Basin 3 to a QEC Dry Dock/3rd Berth then! :mrgreen:

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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(@HMNBPortsmouth) 20th July 2020
Remaining part of new crane that serves number 14 dock and now extends over 15 dock has been added

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Did you know....?
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^ Present day Semaphore Tower, HMNB Portsmouth.

The Semaphore Tower at South Railway Jetty in HMNB Portsmouth was opened after the previous one was destroyed by fire in 1913. The mast on top was taken from the German Cruiser Nurnberg which was scuttled at Scapa Flow. Semaphore Tower is home to the Queen's Harbour Master, Portsmouth.

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^ Original Semaphore Tower before 1913 fire.

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^ German Cruiser Nurnberg, at Scapa Flow.

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Crown & Country - Portsmouth (documentary)

(Documentary Base) 29th March 2020.
Join Edward Wessex, Queen Elizabeth II's youngest son, for a remarkable personal tour of some of the most famous landmarks in British History. As we travel under Prince Edward's personal guidance, we hear how intrigue and treason, violent death and treachery helped shape the rich tapestry of Britain's past. In this episode discover the home of the British Navy, Portsmouth.
Produced and broadcast in 1996.

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^Domus Dei, Old Portsmouth

Good documentary. From it, I learned that (possibly) the first ever cup of tea in the UK was poured in 1662 at the Royal Garrison Church (Domus Dei) in Old Portsmouth, almost three centuries before the Nazi's bombed the roof down in 1941.

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Spinnaker Tower
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Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower is to return to its original white colour after a £3.5m sponsorship deal ended.

The 170m (560ft) structure was painted blue and gold in 2015 to mark Portsmouth City Council's deal with airline Emirates. The initial proposed colours of red and white, synonymous with football rivals Southampton, had caused local anger.

The council said the tower would be repainted white as part of its "routine maintenance schedule". Portsmouth City Council said it did not anticipate any new sponsorship deals for the "foreseeable future" due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates branding will remain in place until early summer 2021 after the sponsorship deal ended "as scheduled" on 30 June 2020, Portsmouth City Council added.

The airline, which uses red and white in its logo, made a U-turn on the initial planned colour scheme after thousands of people signed a petition opposing the move.

However, Emirates had already spent thousands of pounds on more than 100 litres (22 gallons) of red paint so it was given away to community groups in Hampshire, including Petersfield and Fareham football clubs.

The tower was renamed the Emirates Spinnaker Tower and repainted gold and blue - the traditional colour of the city of Portsmouth and its football team - in time for the 2015 America's Cup World Series event.

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RichardIC
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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The running of part of Portsmouth's infrastructure has been outsourced to a US company.

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SKB
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Re: HMNB Portsmouth (RN)

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Portsmouth has a new Skylift 3000 jack-up barge, built by Ravestein in the Netherlands. They've been used in the base before.


(Ravestein) 27th January 2017

And they can be used in other ways....



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