Hms Queen Elizabeth

[Labrador]

I see that according to the BBC the royal navy is highly embarrassed about a leak on a shaft seal, why? They didn't build her, it's down to the build yard.

Bet that takes a he'll of a lot of gland packing!☺

[Vaughan]

They obviously had a bad "trial run". They should have been told you have to turn the grease cap half a turn every morning.

[SteveO]

Thought I saw a bloke with a saucepan full of sawdust lurking round the back of the ship when I watched the news this lunchtime.

[Cockatoo]

I'd have thought having an aircraft carrier with no aircraft was more embarrassing!

[tjg1677]

or the manpower to crew it.........

[BroadAmbition]

Thought I saw a bloke with a saucepan full of sawdust lurking round the back of the ship when I watched the news this lunchtime.

More like buoyant iron filings

 

Finding a leak on a shaft on a new ship I would say it good news as it will be sorted under warranty I assume now they know there is a problem, they will at the same time carefully inspect t'other shaft for any signs of a similar problem

Griff

[High6]

6 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

it will be sorted under warranty

Wonder if Curry's tried to sell them an extended Warranty before they took delivery.

[Paul]

17 hours ago, High6 said:

Wonder if Curry's tried to sell them an extended Warranty before they took delivery.

Surely not Curry's, I thought we were buying it from Brighthouse on the never never. Product cost £3 billion plus "optional" warranty, plus "optional" accidental damage cover (excludes theft, act of god, war, terror or malicious damage) 1,560 weeks at £67 million, total payable £40 billion, APR 69.9%

[Paul]

I would like to state for the avoidance of any doubt that the finance example shown above is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute an offer of credit.

[Cockatoo]

1 hour ago, Paul said:

Surely not Curry's, I thought we were buying it from Brighthouse on the never never. Product cost £3 billion plus "optional" warranty, plus "optional" accidental damage cover (excludes theft, act of god, war, terror or malicious damage) 1,560 weeks at £67 million, total payable £40 billion, APR 69.9%

That sounds like a hospital PFI deal

[grendel]

it doesnt sound a big leak, only 200 litres an hour

[marshman]

Just my thought - on a boat that large, 50 gallons an hour is just spray finding its way in or a loose rivet!!

[quo vadis]

35 minutes ago, marshman said:

Just my thought - on a boat that large, 50 gallons an hour is just spray finding its way in or a loose rivet!!

MM you are right I have held back as I know no stern tube on a modern ship leaks water, stern tubes are oil filled and pressurised lets see what the gutter press prints next  unless of course the is an armchair admiral who knows different  

[tjg1677]

Indeed they are. Oil bath system with a rotating mechanical type seal at both ends, not a stuffing box.  If water is leaking in, it would have to be structual failure such as a weld or flange on the inboard end of the stern tube assembly.

[TheQ]

From a model railway forum....

 

 

Back of an envelope calculation on the leak:

the aircraft carrier is 70,600 tonnes displacement according to wikipedia

the leak is said to be 200 litres/hour of sea water according to the BBC

 

1 tonne is 1000 litres of water

 

so the leak is 1 tonne every 5 hours

 

which equates to the entire displacement of the vessel in 353000 hours = 14708 days = about 40 years

 

for £1 you can buy a 10 litre bucket in Halfords (possibly mil-spec ones are more expensive)

 

you'd need 20 buckets/hour, or one every 5 minutes, to empty the unwanted water

 

the aircraft carrier has a crew of 679

 

I think they can survive for a little while longer, even if the officers don't get their feet wet.

[MauriceMynah]

The problem with that is that if the Queen Elizabeth is being run by the Ministry of Defence, of the 679 on board, 678 will be officers and one rating, who's just a bit too busy right now to go out and buy a bucket.

[Maxwellian]

Screwfix will deliver.....

[Vaughan]

6 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

one rating, who's just a bit too busy right now to go out and buy a bucket.

This is because he is the one being interviewed by the press in a pub in Portsmouth.

"A Ministry of Defence spokesman stated that. . . . . ."

[Guest]

33 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

The problem with that is that if the Queen Elizabeth is being run by the Ministry of Defence, of the 679 on board, 678 will be officers and one rating, who's just a bit too busy right now to go out and buy a bucket.

To procure a bucket as an unplanned expense; that will require a series of performance and durability evaluations, price comparisons and then assuming the preferred supplier is an approved supplier to the MOD at least 50 approval signatures including the Defence Secretary... could take a while. 

[TheQ]

A friend works for MOD procurement, they always have to put out for tender to get three competitive tenders... even if the product is only made by one company...

[grendel]

2 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

The problem with that is that if the Queen Elizabeth is being run by the Ministry of Defence, of the 679 on board, 678 will be officers and one rating, who's just a bit too busy right now to go out and buy a bucket.

he is too busy trying to scrub the flooded floor with a toothbrush

[KaptinKev]

On ‎19‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 12:41, Labrador said:

I see that according to the BBC the royal navy is highly embarrassed about a leak on a shaft seal, why? They didn't build her, it's down to the build yard.

Bet that takes a he'll of a lot of gland packing!☺

Since the Royal Navy is linked to Parliament, leaks are inevitable.

I know, I'll get my coat.

[BroadAmbition]

Back of an envelope calculation on the leak:

the aircraft carrier is 70,600 tonnes displacement according to wikipedia.  Tthe leak is said to be 200 litres/hour of sea water according to the BBC. 1 tonne is 1000 litres of water.  So the leak is 1 tonne every 5 hours. Wwhich equates to the entire displacement of the vessel in 353000 hours = 14708 days = about 40 years.  For £1 you can buy a 10 litre bucket in Halfords (possibly mil-spec ones are more expensive).  You'd need 20 buckets/hour, or one every 5 minutes, to empty the unwanted water the aircraft carrier has a crew of 679. I think they can survive for a little while longer, even if the officers don't get their feet wet.

Quite brilliant - Tks for sharing that.  Oh and BTW - Someone has far tooooooooooooo much time on their hands!

Griff

[Guest]

On 12/21/2017 at 08:30, TheQ said:

From a model railway forum....

 

 

Back of an envelope calculation on the leak:

the aircraft carrier is 70,600 tonnes displacement according to wikipedia

the leak is said to be 200 litres/hour of sea water according to the BBC

 

1 tonne is 1000 litres of water

 

so the leak is 1 tonne every 5 hours

 

which equates to the entire displacement of the vessel in 353000 hours = 14708 days = about 40 years

 

for £1 you can buy a 10 litre bucket in Halfords (possibly mil-spec ones are more expensive)

 

you'd need 20 buckets/hour, or one every 5 minutes, to empty the unwanted water

 

the aircraft carrier has a crew of 679

 

I think they can survive for a little while longer, even if the officers don't get their feet wet.

Continue with that logic:

there are 1440 mins per day divided by 5mins (bucket emptying interval) gives 288 buckets per day This task divided equally between the 678 crew (Admiral excused such duties) means each crew member has to empty a bucket just under every 2 1/2 days

[Paul]

I understand Tom Cunliffe is en route to film the repairs for the come back of his "boat yard series". I have acquired a brief synopsis of the script ...... 

This week I've come to Portsmouth to meet Jerry, a man who has just taken delivery of a boat with a problem.  This is a boat with a leak meaning one thing. The whole thing is slowly sinking. Can Jerry fix it before all three billion pounds worth of boat ends up as scrap metal. It's going to be close .........

Jerry, tell us about the boat, and the problem ahead. 

Well Tom, this is HMS Queen Elizabeth, or "Old Bess" for short. Whilst on sea trials we found a leak from one of the prop shafts leaving water gushing into the bilge. 

That must have been very frightening ....

Not really Tom, sea trials are designed to highlight any issues such as this an enable us to fix them before she enters service.

Was there much panic on board when it was found that she was actually sinking ....

Not really Tom, there was never a danger of her sinking, the rate of water ingress was much less than the capacity of the pumps.

So what sort of boat is HMS Queen Elizabeth ....

She's an Aircraft Carrier Tom, often referred to as a "flat top"

But I was just up on her deck Jerry and I didn't see any launch paraphinalia, catapults, arrestors etc?

No Tom, she doesn't have any of that, she's designed to carry short take off / vertical landing aircraft only.

Oh, you mean Helicopters?

Yes Tom, as well as Lockheed F35B fighter aircraft.

I didn't realise we had any of those

err, we don't

A kind of aircraft carrier with no aeroplanes then (insert self important smirk and slight giggle here). So what is the plan to fix her, will she have to come out of the water?

No, the contractor assures us they can fix the problem whilst she is lying alongside Portsmouth

That sounds difficult, repairing a shaft seal whilst she is in the water

The contractors intend to surround the effected area with a rubber bag which will be sealed to the hull allowing the repairs to be carried out. 

A kind of "carrier" bag you mean (insert self important smirk and slight giggle here ..... again)

Well folks, the race is on, Can Jerry fix his ship before disaster strikes, You know I think it's going to be tough, but there is something about Jerry that tells me he can do it, he's the right man for the job. Come back after the break to see how he gets on ........