"Multiple Issues": The Reliability of the UK's "Prince of Wales" Aircraft Carrier Questioned

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] As one of the largest vessels in the British Navy, the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" was recently forced to halt operations due to the discovery of "technical issues" while docked at a Norwegian port. Although the UK Ministry of Defence attempted to downplay the impact of this incident, both British and American media have raised questions about the reliability of this aircraft carrier, which has faced numerous problems since its commissioning.

The British newspaper "The Guardian" reported on the 7th that the "Prince of Wales" traveled to the Nordic seas earlier this month with the aim of providing security in the Atlantic and Arctic regions. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that a "minor technical issue" was discovered when the ship recently docked in the southwestern Norwegian city of Stavanger. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence indicated that it is expected to set sail again in the coming days.

The American website "National Interest" noted that during its journey to the Nordic seas, the "Prince of Wales" met up with the Type 45 destroyer "Duncan" and the tanker "Spring Tide," and conducted joint exercises with other NATO countries. In May, when this British aircraft carrier first docked in Stavanger, a "technical issue" was also identified, but it was not serious enough to affect its participation in the 10-day NATO exercise "Dynamic Mongoose-2026." However, upon its return to Stavanger, it was found that the repair time might be longer than previously estimated.

"The Guardian" mentioned that both of the Royal Navy's active large aircraft carriers have reliability issues. At the end of 2020, the "Prince of Wales" experienced flooding in its engine room, damaging onboard electronic equipment. Moreover, within just five months, the aircraft carrier suffered two incidents of water leakage. In August 2022, shortly after leaving the UK for a planned training deployment in the United States, it encountered a broken propeller shaft coupling. This 65,000-ton large aircraft carrier had to anchor near the Isle of Wight and underwent extensive repairs at the Rosyth shipyard in Scotland, where it was out of service for nearly a year, only returning to active duty in July 2023.

The situation of the other aircraft carrier of the same class, "Queen Elizabeth," is similarly poor. It was forced to withdraw from NATO exercises near the Norwegian coast in 2024 due to a connection issue found in its starboard propeller shaft during pre-departure inspections, necessitating a temporary replacement by the "Prince of Wales."

The report mentioned that in March of this year, the UK's military capabilities were criticized after the deployment of the Type 45 destroyer "Dragon" to Cyprus was delayed. Military personnel in the UK have long complained that officials from both the Labour and Conservative parties are unwilling to acknowledge the "gap between rhetoric and reality"—the UK positions itself as a global power, but in reality, its global military capabilities are severely limited.

The "National Interest" website stated that the incidents involving the "Prince of Wales" and other British naval vessels indicate that they face numerous problems. Firstly, the aging British ships still in service are becoming increasingly unreliable, to the point where they can hardly operate normally, while planned replacement vessels have been delayed for years. This has led to the ridicule that "the number of serving admirals in the British Navy is greater than the actual combat vessels." Secondly, neither of the two large aircraft carriers in the UK is ready for immediate deployment. At the same time, the Royal Navy lacks sufficient escort vessels to form a carrier strike group and can only rely on foreign partners to protect its own aircraft carriers. Ironically, if the British aircraft carriers are unable to go to sea, then "the inability to provide escort protection becomes irrelevant." (Wu Yan)