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How do you float a 65,000-tonne ship?

HMS Queen Elizabeth undergoes inclining test to find out her exact weight and centre of gravity.

Last month saw the naming of the Royal Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. Weighing in at 65,000 tonnes and with a flight deck measuring in at 4.5 acres, she is the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy.

HMS Queen Elizabeth will provide a mobile air base for the UK’s armed forces.

She will be capable of launching, landing and maintaining aircraft 24-hours-a-day in support of war efforts and humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations. The carrier will operate worldwide with the new Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II jets and a number of types of helicopter.

Due to the size of the vessel and the importance of her role, stability is critical, especially for the taking-off and landing of aircraft. Indeed new ships and often those coming out of refit go through these tests. But how is this done?

A very accurate estimation of the ship’s weight and the particular location of the centre of gravity are required. Firstly, the build dock in Scotland was flooded very slowly so that the carrier was floating without any brows or cables attached, and with the mooring lines slack.

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Channel website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence

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