The HMS Prince of Wales £3bn warship has left on its latest mission a day behind schedule.
It was an embarrassing setback for the Royal Navy vessel – which has now set sail for a NATO exercise – as it had to replace its sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth after it broke down.
The situation has brought the reputation of the two carriers into question as people have already been wondering why neither carrier has deployed to attack Houthis in the Red Sea.
Instead the RAF had to conduct long range missions from Cyprus to bomb them instead. Retired Rear Admiral Chris Parry said: “The carriers are getting a reputation for not being reliable.
He said: “They are big, complex bits of machinery, and the joy of having both of them is that the second one can step into the breach at a moment’s notice – that moment has been a bit longer than we would have hoped.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat said that he needed to ask questions about the delay.
He told LBC: “I’m afraid it’s not something I can explain – that’s a matter for the MOD (Ministry of Defence), and I’m going to have to ask some questions about it.”
He added that “it isn’t acceptable” that the UK has such “expensive and important items of kit sitting in dock”, when they should be defending the country.
Express.co.uk has approached the MOD for comment.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman told LBC the Prince of Wales’ departure on Monday was “subject to suitable tide and weather conditions”.
HMS Queen Elizabeth was forced to drop out of NATO’s Exercise Steadfast Defender off Norway after an issue was discovered with a propeller coupling.
Now it has left, the Prince of Wales will now lead the carrier strike group of eight ships – four of them from the UK and the rest coming from the US, Spain and Denmark.
Commodore James Blackmore, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, said the UK has an “unwavering commitment to NATO” and “there is no better demonstration of that than HMS Prince of Wales being at the heart” of upcoming NATO missions.
