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ACA Monthly News June 2015
HMS Queen Elizabeth Powers to Life
Philip Dunne, Minister of State
for Defence Procurement
visited Rosyth last week
to mark the switching
on of HMS Queen
Elizabeth’s Diesel
Generators.
Firing up the Diesel
Generators was Philip
Dunne, who in a short
ceremony was accompanied by
Rear Admiral Henry Parker
representing the Ministry of Defence on the Aircraft
Carrier Alliance (ACA), and Sir Peter Gershon, the
Independent Chairman of the ACA.
Mr Dunne, said: “It is a real pleasure to be back in
Scotland, home of the UK’s shipbuilding industry, to
witness the impressive progress that is being made on our
new aircraft carriers.
“Powering up the diesel generator today marks an
important milestone on the journey to bring these highly
versatile ships into service with our Armed Forces. They
will be the largest, most capable and effective surface
warships ever constructed in the UK. The build
programme is supporting thousands of jobs across the
country, with over 4,000 of those jobs at Rosyth and the
Clyde.”
The 65,000 tonne flagship for the Royal Navy has
undergone months of preparation work by the Aircraft
Carrier Alliance (ACA) to start the first of her four Wärtsilä
diesel engines, which are directly coupled to the General
Electric (GE) generators. Together, each power unit
weighs approximately 200 tonnes – the weight of 200
family-sized cars.
Phillip Dunne switched on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s diesel
generators marking a significant milestone in the programme.
“It is a real pleasure to be
back in Scotland, home of
the UK’s shipbuilding
industry, to witness the
impressive progress that
is being made on our new
aircraft carriers.” Phillip
Dunne, Minister of State
for Defence Procurement.
“The amount of pipework,
electrical connections and
systems that have had to be
installed, tested and finally
commissioned is staggering.
I’m incredibly proud of
everyone working on HMS
Queen Elizabeth.” Jon
Pearson, HMS Queen
Elizabeth Delivery Director.
Jon Pearson, HMS Queen Elizabeth Delivery Director,
commented: “We’re delighted to have the Minister of State
for Defence Procurement in Rosyth today to start our
diesel generators for the first time. This is a huge
milestone on the road to delivery and is a testament to the
hard work and determination of the delivery and
commissioning teams working here in Rosyth.
“The amount of
pipework,
electrical
connections
and
systems
that have
had to be
installed,
tested and finally
commissioned is
staggering. I’m incredibly
proud of everyone
working on HMS Queen Elizabeth. She is now well on the
way to becoming an operational warship that will be the
flagship of the Royal Navy for the next 50 years.”
The diesel generator sets will be the main cruising
engines for the ship, but when higher speed is required,
two MT30 Gas Turbine Alternators will also be used.
Together they will produce 109MW of power, enough to
power a town the size of Swindon.
Jim Bennett, Power & Propulsion Director for the Aircraft
Carrier Alliance, said: “There is something particularly
special about the starting of the first diesel engine on any
vessel. The gentle vibration, reassuring hum and first
smoke appearing from the funnel, creates a heartbeat and
breathes life into a new ship. This is a great moment for
the project and the Royal Navy.”
Phillip Dunne was provided with an update on the programme
and given a tour of the ship
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A world’s first – fitting propellers underwater
At 33 tonnes and with a diameter of 6.7 metres, the fitting of
each of the two nickel aluminium bronze propellers on the
Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers will be an impressive
engineering fete. What’s more impressive is that it will all
carried out underwater.
Following the recent newsletter article on the shaftline
installation for HMS Queen Elizabeth (see 16 June p2), we
caught up with the work that’s been ongoing to de-risk the
underwater fitting of the propeller blades.
The propeller hubs are currently fitted with special blades
that allow the shafts to be turned without producing any thrust
to allow the commissioning of the integrated electric
propulsion systems. Upon completion of these trials, the
‘brake blades’ as they are known are then removed by divers
and replaced with the actual propeller blades which will
generate the necessary thrust when the ship goes to sea.
According to Patrick Midgley, Head of Engineering, Prince of
Wales this task is planned to be completed in Rosyth while
the vessel is alongside J/K berth. “It is worth noting that this
task will be a world first, having never been completed
underwater anywhere else,” explains Patrick.
With our Proud to Be Safe culture at the forefront of
everyone’s mind, the pan alliance working group was formed
specifically to develop a strategy to evaluate how this would
be achieved in a safe and controlled manner. A risk exercise
was carried out to step through each element of the task to
understand the major areas that represented opportunities to
de-risk. At the end of 2014 it was agreed that the first key
activity would be to prove that the underwater assembly of
the blade onto the hub could be safely achieved using divers.
“This involved undertaking a trial which relied on
several elements coming together including the
successful completion of the Factory Acceptance Test
(FAT) of the HMS Prince of Wales propeller hubs and
the design and fabrication of a hub mounting bracket
that replicates the shaft installation,” says Patrick.
Following a hands on ‘dry run’ at the Rolls-Royce
factory in Sweden, the first stage of the ‘wet’ trial in
Rosyth was to assemble the bracket and hub which
was mounted on the Synchrolift bogies so that the
whole assembly could be moved onto the Synchrolift
and lowered into the water to the depth of six meters.
“The propeller blade was lowered into position above
the hub and guided into its final position by the divers,”
adds Patrick.
Working inside the hub the diving team secured the
blade in place using a device known as a Superbolt. “A
total of 16 superbolts are used to fasten each blade to
the hub and require a very high torque to be achieved.
The divers experimented with different tool options i.e.
air driven wrench, torque multiplier and a very large
torque wrench, referred to as ‘Excalibur’!”
The trial achieved its primary aim and proved that the
design torque could be reliably achieved underwater
using a sequential, gradually increasing, tightening
method until the blade was fully secured.
Seen as a great success, Patrick concludes: “We now
have reliable data from the trial that that can be used to
develop the optimal methodology which will be used to
install the blades on HMS Queen Elizabeth before she
departs on sea trials.”
The Alliance team celebrate a successful ‘wet trial’ of fitting
the propeller to the hub in Rosyth.
The massive 33 tonne bronze propellers are made by Rolls-
Royce. They feature five blades mounted on a central hub
(pictured). Rolls-Royce is also supplying shaft lines (see 16 June
p2) which will link each of the vessel’s two propellers with the
power source. Each propeller will deliver around 50,000hp – the
highest power Kamewa propeller ever developed by Rolls-Royce.
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HMS Queen Elizabeth – Mission Systems Update
Blown Optical Fibre
Blowing termination and testing activities are
progressing well with in DCZ 4 and DCZ5, and these
activities are expected to complete on programme
early in July
Integrated Navigation and Bridge System
As described last month following the achievement of
CRL 3 in the Bridge the INBS Cat 3 installation
commenced. This installation has been continuing over
the period and despite some engineering issues
impacting some consoles the team have made good
progress. Installation of INBS equipment has now
“spread out” with Cat 3 installation proceeding in DFZ9,
DFA7 and 6HZ0 as the systems matures towards the
STW phase.
INE Secret Real Time Network Cat 3 equipment
installation has been completed in DCZ4. Set To
Work (STW) will of this equipment in DCZ4 will
commence in the next few weeks and on completion
this part of the network will be integrated with DCZ 1-
3 Secret Real Time network that was previously
STW, providing a wider network availability as user
come on line for STW.
The HF Comms Cat 3 installations commenced in
both Radio Rooms with Radio Room 2 now complete
and Radio Room 1 scheduled to complete in the next
week. On completion the systems will be made ready
to commence STW activities
Blown Fibre Contracts
On 28 May 2015, QEC Mission Systems signed
agreements with Capita IT Services Ltd and Brand-Rex
Ltd for the delivery and installation of Blown Fibre
Equipment on the QEC carriers.
Under a revised scope for Blown Fibre delivery and
installation, these contracts will see Brand-Rex become
the lead contractor for the design and delivery of Blown-
Fibre equipment. Capita will be the lead contractor for
the completion of installation of Blown Fibre on HMS
Queen Elizabeth and will undertake the full installation of
Blown Fibre on HMS Prince of Wales.
David Glasscock, Supply Chain Lead, said “These
agreements are the result of many months of work and
joint negotiations between Brand-Rex, Capita and the
QEC Mission Systems team based in Frimley. This
milestone was achieved through joint working with the
wider ACA Mission System team to ensure that both ship
programme needs are were met.”
Left to Right: Stephen McBrinn, Commercial Director, Capita, Paul Morris, Managing
Director, Capita, David Glasscock, QEC Mission Systems Supply Chain Lead, ACA, Ian
Wilkie, Commercial Director, Brand-Rex, Frank Ward, Account Manager, Brand-Rex
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Life raft team buoyed by success
Life rafts are
something that
any mariner
needs to
know is
there and
works when
needed, but
never wants to
use for real. They
have to be protected,
tested and always ready
for the worst.
In 2012 when it was decided to revert the carrier design
to use the STOVL (Short Take Off and Vertical
Landing) variant of the F35 Lightning II jets it was
realised that much of the equipment fitted in the
catwalks could be damaged by the planes passing
overhead. To avoid costly and time consuming
structural redesign it was proposed that shielding
would be developed for life rafts that would survive the
aerothermal jet blast but not restrict the normal
operation and the ability for life rafts to float-free if the
ship should sink! Sounds simple, but it had never been
done before and required a bespoke solution.
Eddie adds that a special mention needs to be made to the
dedicated engineering teams that have generated a
practical solution that has now been physically tested,
proven to work and accepted by the Client.
These include: Fraser Nash Consultancy (Rich Lawrence,
James Speedy and Lara Tulloch) for the concept
development, modelling, material testing, prototype
development; BAE Systems Hot Gas Laboratories (Rob
Brown, Andy Hollinghurst) for the testing and validation of
designs; Edwards Engineering for the rapid turnaround and
manufacture of the prototype; Babcock and Thales
Engineering Teams (Ian Patterson, Andrew Penman, Scott
Mitchell) for the design review, generation of production
drawings, development of test equipment, trial schedules
and overall project management from concept to testing.
Babcock Heavy Handling (Paul Stewart) and Dockmaster
(John Pate).
Without considerable team work from all those mentioned
none of this would have been achieved. Well done
everyone.
“This testing marks a significant
milestone in the design and
Naval Authority acceptance of
catwalk aerothermal protection
measures intended to protect
vital equipment from the jet blast
of the F35 jet whilst hover
transitioning to landing.”
Eddie Trott, STOVL Reversion
Lead.
Eddie Trott, STOVL Reversion Lead, explains: “There
was a lot of work to find a solution. There followed 18
months of concept design, aerothermal jet blast
evaluation, material testing, buoyancy calculations,
computational fluid dynamic modelling to simulate
airflow and physical scale testing in the BAE Systems
Hot Gas Laboratory and a whole host of detailed
design activity.”
Fast forward and just a couple of weeks ago in the non-
tidal basin in Rosyth, Eddie and his team lifted the life
raft on a test rig into the water and submerged it, only
to be followed by an eruption of water as the 100 man
life raft exploded out of the water accompanied by loud
cheering from the Jetty.
“This testing marks a significant milestone in the design
and Naval Authority acceptance of catwalk aerothermal
protection measures intended to protect vital
equipment from the jet blast of the F35 jet whilst hover
transitioning to landing.” says Eddie.
He added “It was a successful end to the finalisation of
detailed designs, manufacture of a prototype shield,
design and the manufacture of a dedicated test rig. It
was great to finally see the physical testing in the non-
tidal basin in Rosyth and that all the hard work and
creative thinking pay off!”
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Shaftline Success
Another significant milestone has been achieved on HMS
Queen Elizabeth with the shaftlines being fully installed.
The shaft lines are a means to transfer the turning motion
of the propulsion motors to the propellers in order to
produce a thrust for driving the ship through the water in a
forward or reverse motion. The propellers can also be
used as a steering aid using the variable drive motors.
The ship has two shaft lines, one port and one starboard,
which are supported by internal and external bearings.
Each shaftline is driven by two inline propulsion motors
passing through a thrust block which pushes the ship, and
brake system with integral turning and locking
mechanisms.
The shaft work is the alignment and fitting of all shaft line
machinery to line of sight and fitting propeller shafts and
associated equipment to that line. This work includes
drilling bespoke holes and organising manufacture of
exacting bolts, using specified material to exacting
standards.
Not only did the team build the shaft line with zero
accidents, but there were also zero defects allocated to
production on completion of the build. Completion of this
work, which came six weeks ahead of the required date
for trials and commissioning, now allows the ship to be
handed over for preparation for basin trials and for
progression of systems being set to work by the trials and
commissioning team.
The propellers will be fitted underwater by divers so that
the shaftline can first be tested without generating thrust.
Once fitted, the two propellers will be able to output some
80MW of power - enough to run 1,000 family cars or 50
high speed trains. The propellers weigh 33 tonnes each
and together, they are heavier than entire patrol boats
operated by the Royal Navy.
The hard work doesn’t stop there as the team’s focus
moves towards ensuring suppliers of HMS Prince of
Wales have implemented all ECRs required to allow
maximum cost benefit and efficiency. It was a challenge to
ensure all lessons learned during the shaft line build were
captured and resolved in such a manner that traceability
was evident and that the necessary steps were taken to
ensure HMS Prince of Wales shaft lines will be built with
significant savings.
A big thank you…
It was team work and determination that contributed to the
achievements of this milestone. A special thank you goes to the
following who worked tirelessly on the shaftlines right through to
completion.
Thales:- Colin English, Sara-Jane Parker, Craig Ward
Rolls Royce:- Johan Brandelid, Jens Tornblad
Customer:- James Ember, Robert Shaw, Robert Davies
Design:- Jim Brand, Graeme Govenlock, Duncan Ross, Tom
McColl
Slinging and Lifting:- Patrick McKee and team, Gary Thomson and
team, Heavy handling team
Commissioning Department:- James Ferguson, Andrew Donovan
Planning:- Douglas Allan, Paul Neil
Quality/Dimensional Control:- Allan Henshelwood, Michael Wynne,
Peter Thomson, Craig Murray
Lloyds Register:- Ian Whyte, Andrew Waterworth
BAE Systems machine shop:- Alan Milligan (Senior Manager) and
production team
Ship Production:- Graeme Clark, Jim Clark, Peter Heaney, Robert
Bryce, Robert Cameron, Colin Dolan, Frazer Donachy, Gordon
McDonald, David Millar, Neil Crossan, Pat McCarron, George
Proctor, Paul Connolly(w/end), David Haggerty(N/shift), Alan Grant
Connect with us…
www.aircraftcarrieralliance.co.uk
www.flickr.com/photos/qeclasscarriers.
https://www.youtube.com/user/QEClassCarriers
https://twitter.com/QEClassCarriers
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Spotlight on… Kishan Bhudia
MOD Graduate Engineer
How did your career bring you to where you are today,
currently working with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance?
After completing a Mechanical Engineering degree last year, I
was very excited to join the MOD graduate training scheme to
start off my career. Upon completion of my first placement in
the MOD, I opted to undertake a production placement at
Rosyth Dockyard to gain a better understanding of
shipbuilding and to experience engineering practices in a
naval environment. I was incredibly excited about the
opportunity to be a part of a project of national importance, a
once in a lifetime opportunity.
When did you start working on the QEC programme and
what is your current role?
I started working on the QEC programme from February 2015
for a five month placement. I am part of an onsite client
Delegated Acceptance Team (DAT).
What does that involve?
The role mainly involves representing the MOD as a client
during inspections, trials, block lifts and other acceptance
events. The work that I have undertaken during my time here
has been incredibly varied and interesting. Throughout this
placement I enjoyed learning how different area functions as
part of the acceptance team such as Platform Systems, Hull
& Outfit, Mission Systems, Maritime Capability Trials and
Assessment (MCTA). I am currently working with the Power
and Propulsion acceptance team.
What made you apply to the
MOD graduate scheme?
My choice to join the
graduate scheme
was a simple one.
Not only does the
scheme guide me
through
chartership, it also
offers me the opportunity
to work in a range of
different areas of Defence. The
MOD graduate scheme is a
great way to find out which areas interest me most and allows me
to gain experience in different areas of the sector before settling
down in a permanent post. I found that this scheme was very well
structured in comparison to other graduate schemes, and I can
see from my time in this graduate scheme that there is a very
constructive plan in place for me.
What are the key challenges in your role?
Given that the Queen Elizabeth Class is the largest warship ever
built for the Royal Navy, it has been overwhelming to understand
the sheer scale of the project, especially to see how the
integration of different systems coming together. I have had the
opportunity to work closely with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance
industry partners to gain a broader knowledge of their part in this
collaboration.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I enjoy working closely with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance industry
partners as this allows me to develop my knowledge and
experience of how industries interact together to achieve one
goal. I’ve also had the opportunity to understand how ships are
designed, built and accepted. This understanding is critical for the
work that takes place within DE&S and has provided me with a
really good foundation for my future career.
What has been the highlight of working on the QEC
programme for you?
It’s hard to select one highlight, however witnessing and getting
involved on various key events such as design reviews, block lifts
by the goliath crane, trials and compartment inspections for the
QEC have been exciting and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Finally, what do you do in your spare time?
Being away from home, I try to keep myself busy during the
weekends. This usually involves exploring the local surroundings
in and around Edinburgh. I love to hike, and thankfully there are
plenty of great hiking locations here, through which I have had
the opportunity to meet new people cultivating some new
friendships. I have hiked up Arthur’s Seat and the Pentlands and
I also take my cameras along to get some good shots.
“My choice to join the
graduate scheme was a
simple one. Not only does the
scheme guide me through
chartership, it also offers me
the opportunity to work in a
range of different areas of
Defence.”
Kishan Bhudia
MOD Graduate Engineer
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HMS Prince of Wales build update
Glasgow
Lower Block 04
Steady progress continues A Defence Quality Assurance Field Force audit on the
block handover pack has been completed, with
support from a cross section of functions. Some minor
observations have been advised which are currently
being actioned.
In Build, the focus across the block is to complete
build scope in preparation for block handover. To do
this the team are continuing to fit out the Galley and
the Medical Suite with this work nearing a conclusion.
The priorities outside of these areas are completion of
cable and ventilation scope, the completion of paint
scope, and the progress of pipe testing and
termination of cables and electrical equipment.
The CHOI programme remains high on the agenda
with the team working closely together to target
closeout of the remaining CHOIs on the Block.
Lower Block 05
Ring U and Ring T progress Ring T is now fully painted and the key focus is for all
follow up work to be completed in order to start up the
CHOI program. Insulation is now working in all deck
levels, with HVAC and basket also starting to be installed
right through the compartments.
The focus will continue to work towards the CHOI
inspection to allow the weatherproofing work to start as
soon as possible before the move to Rosyth.
HV equipment
Upper Block 14
Uptakes on open units planning The top half of the FLYCO seat, which sits from 02 to
06 deck on the port side has also been lifted into
position by the assembly team and is now being
worked on to fair and weld in its final position. This
just leaves the AI13 sponson remaining to provide all
the units required for the block to be fully assembled.
The teams focus on PO1 work within the service trunk
continues to progress well up to 03 deck level; this
will be a key area for access with regards to cable
pulling on the block as a large majority of cables run
from 04 and 03 deck down through the service trunk
and out into multiple areas on all decks below.
Rosyth
Assembly progress Ramp Sections 172 & 171 were skidded into their
final position on the flight deck at the bow of the
ship.
The tank completion programme has shown further
progress with 36 compartments having now gained
their ITR12 sign off within the Completions
Management System (CMS).
Progress is continuing with the catwalk installation
programme.
Merseyside
Central Block 07
Ring progress CHOI inspections are now near completion within
CB04A and CB04B with outstanding observations
being cleared daily. CB04C is showing good
progress with paint progressing, 95% of all internal
compartments and the hangar deckhead now
complete and handed to Ticon for insulation. CB04D
is now structurally complete with outfit steel
progressing well ahead PO1 hotwork surveys.
LB05 Skeg in paint cell
