HMS Prince of Wales is the second Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier under construction for the
Royal Navy, with plans for active service from 2020.
She is the eighth Royal Navy ship to have the title HMS Prince of Wales.
Construction of the ship began in 2011 at Rosyth Dockyard.
Unlike most large carriers she is not fitted with catapults and arrestor wires and is instead
designed to operate V/STOL aircraft; the ship will carry up to 40 F-35B Lightning II fighter-bombers;
and Merlin helicopters for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare.
The design emphasises flexibility, with accommodation for 250 Royal Marines and the ability to support
them with attack helicopters and troop transports up to Chinook size and larger.
During the 2014 NATO summit, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the Prince of
Wales will be brought into service, contrary to proposals in the 2010 Strategic Defence
and Security Review.
Design and construction
The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers are unique among world aircraft carriers in
having two islands, the for'ard one housing the main bridge for ship control and the aft
island is for air control.
The original 2008 design envisaged flying Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing jets from
a ski-jump ramp.
The 2010 SDSR called for the UK to buy conventional take-off F-35C jets and to convert Prince
of Wales to a CATOBAR configuration, but this proved too expensive.
So in May 2012 the Government announced that the F-35B variant would be purchased instead
and the carrier will now be completed with a "ski-jump".
The Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010 declared that the UK needed only one
carrier, but penalty clauses in the contract meant that cancelling the second vessel was
more expensive than building it.
So the SDSR directed that the second carrier should be built and then either mothballed
or sold.
More recently the RN's 2012/13 yearbook stated "both carriers are likely to be commissioned
and may even be capable of operating together".
It was announced in 2014 that the carrier will be brought into service rather than sold
off or mothballed.
Under current plans Prince of Wales will be commissioned in 2020.
At a press conference on 5 September 2014, following the NATO summit in Wales, the Prime
Minister announced that HMS Prince of Wales will be brought into service alongside HMS
Queen Elizabeth, ending years of uncertainty surrounding the future of the second carrier.
The Prince of Wales is being assembled at Rosyth from 52 blocks built by six shipyards
around the UK.
Construction began on 26 May 2011 with the first steel being cut at Govan shipyard by
Dr Liam Fox.
Armament and aircraft The Queen Elizabeth class can carry up to
40 Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II multirole jets, but a more likely airwing is 12 or 24
F-35B and a helicopter group of anti-submarine AW101 Merlins and troop transport helicopters.
Name
The Queen Elizabeth-class carrier will be the eighth HMS Prince of Wales, named after
the title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the British monarch.
The name was announced at the same time as sister ship Queen Elizabeth.
Controversy over the decommissioning of HMS Ark Royal under the terms of the SDSR in 2010,
and the subsequent loss of the name Ark Royal led to a campaign for one of the new aircraft
carriers to receive it.
In May 2011, reports surfaced that HRH The Prince of Wales had been approached by a senior
Royal Navy officer on the subject of changing the name of Prince of Wales to Ark Royal,
a matter that the Prince of Wales was reportedly "pretty relaxed" about.
Affiliations Once in service the ship will be officially
affiliated with the city of Liverpool.
See also Future of the Royal Navy
References
External links Royal Navy HMS Prince of Wales