The Navy is facing fresh embarrassment over yet another technical fault, as HMS Prince of Wales’ technical problems pushed back her departure to celebrate US independence
Britain’s £3.5billion flagship aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has reportedly broken down again. It has consequently been forced to dock in Norway for repairs, delaying her schedule as ministers argue over defence spending.
The Navy is facing fresh embarrassment over yet another technical fault, as HMS Prince of Wales’ technical problems pushed back her departure for celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. A senior naval source told the Daily Mail the latest problems were “devastating for morale”.
The latest fault is seen as particularly embarrassing because the carrier is due to take part in US President Donald Trump ’s celebrations.
The US President and his defence secretary Pete Hegseth have already mocked the Royal Navy as “old and broken down” in recent months. Defence sources reportedly said a “minor technical issue” was found, forcing the 65,000-tonne ship to dock in Stavanger, Norway.
The problem is thought to involve the propeller shaft, an issue that has previously affected Prince of Wales and sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth, though this has not been confirmed, the Daily Mail reported. The carrier’s X account (formerly known as Twitter) said engineers and logisticians were working “tirelessly” to “deliver effective maritime support”, but no public details have been given about the fault identified during a key Nato exercise in the High North.
A navy source added: “With morale already rock-bottom over defence spending and delays over the DIP, the last thing the Royal Navy needed was HMS Prince of Wales marooned in a Norwegian fjord. Then, to rub salt into the wounds, it appears the breakdown has been caused by the recurrence of a previous problem.
“Crucially the Royal Navy signed off for responsibility for the maintenance of its carriers from the manufacturers without confirming the carriers were entirely seaworthy. So every time there is an issue with the propellers, the taxpayer picks up the tab.”
The Ministry of Defence said on Thursday (June 4): “HMS Prince of Wales is currently conducting a port visit to Stavanger. We expect her to set sail in the coming days.”
It comes as Russian state-controlled television has demanded Vladimir Putin launch a deadly assault on Britain to obliterate the factory producing Storm Shadow missiles. The dictator’s propaganda mouthpiece Vladimir Solovyov urged an attack on the manufacturing facilities, which are primarily located in Stevenage.
HMS Prince of Wales’ most serious breakdown came in August 2022, when the carrier was forced to stop just a day after leaving Portsmouth for a major training deployment to the US. The ship ground to a halt off the Isle of Wight and had to be towed back to port after inspections found a 33-tonne starboard propeller shaft coupling had snapped, causing significant damage to the shaft and rudder.
The carrier then spent around nine months in dry dock at Rosyth in Scotland for extensive repairs, returning to service in July 2023 and missing the planned US exercises. While the ship was already in Rosyth for that repair programme, further checks in February 2023 uncovered additional problems.
Earlier in the ship’s service life, a major flooding incident also caused significant disruption. In October 2020, while docked in Portsmouth, a high-pressure internal pipe burst, sending thousands of gallons of seawater into an engine room compartment.
Water reportedly reached up to three feet high, submerging electrical cabinets and damaging large amounts of high-voltage cabling. The ship remained alongside for around six months while electrical repairs were carried out, and it missed planned F-35 trials in the US.
There was also a separate, smaller flooding incident in May 2020. A ruptured internal pipe is reported to have caused ankle-high flooding across several decks, leading to a safety investigation into the failure.
The most recent setback comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing more pressure to publish a delayed defence spending review due next week, but Treasury rows could yet force another hold-up after a year of delays. Military chief Sir Richard Knighton warned Russia was “raising the stakes” and “risks crossing the line”, as Starmer pledged the Defence Investment Plan would be published within the next month.
He told LBC: “We do have to be ready… to deter, you have to be ready”, adding: “Our intelligence and the intelligence of other countries is that Russia could attack Nato as early as 2030, so that is why we need to be ready.” Ministers have also been warned of a £28 billion gap in defence plans, while Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard said Russia was “probing, challenging, testing our defences” and the Chief of the Defence Staff cautioned: “In my 35-year career, this is the most dangerous period that I have known.”
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