The UK's $3.7B flagship aircraft carrier caught fire in another embarrassing incident for the Royal Navy
NTB
- A fire broke out on the Royal Navy's flagship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, a report said.
- It is the second time in recent weeks that the carrier has suffered a problem.
- Last month, HMS Queen Elizabeth pulled out of a NATO exercise following a mechanical issue.
The UK's $3.7 billion flagship aircraft carrier caught fire in yet another embarrassment for the Royal Navy.
The fire broke out on HMS Queen Elizabeth while it was docked for repairs at Glen Mallan on Loch Long in Scotland, according to the UK Defence Journal.
It is the second incident for the carrier in recent weeks.
The fire, which a Royal Navy spokesperson told the publication was "minor," was swiftly contained without reported injuries.
A person aboard the ship told the Journal: "No fatalities, minor fire damage to the ship but all over with." The Royal Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider.
Navy Lookout, a navy analysis site, wrote that "minor shipboard fires are not uncommon. All sailors are trained in fire-fighting and, in this instance, appear to have responded quickly and extinguished fire with no injuries. Involvement of local civilian fire brigade is also standard procedure."
HMS Queen Elizabeth is now en route to Rosyth, Scotland, for repairs, specifically targeting the starboard propeller shaft coupling.
Last month, the carrier was withdrawn from a major NATO exercise because of the coupling issue, and was ultimately replaced by HMS Prince of Wales. The Ministry of Defence told BI at the time that technical problems were inevitable on state-of-the-art ships.
HMS Prince of Wales itself faced breakdowns previously, adding to a pattern of mechanical difficulties in the Navy's flagship vessels.
Pressure is now mounting on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to increase defense spending.
Foreign Office Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat are advocating for a "much greater pace" of investment, stressing the need for the UK to lead in defense and security spending, particularly in light of escalating global risks posed by countries like Russia and China.
The underfunding of the Navy amid geopolitical strife, including vessels targeted by Houthis in the Red Sea, has called the UK's readiness for war into question.
"Gen. Lord Houghton pointed to the shortage of available vessels and further noted that he found the high proportion of naval equipment which was inoperable to be 'quite disturbing,'" a report, citing a top UK defense official.
The high-profile failures of the UK's flagship aircraft carrier have shown how Britain is struggling to keep up with first-rate navies around the world, experts have said.
"There is a dissonance between the UK's military ambitions and its capabilities," Richard Barrons, a former head of the UK's armed forces, told the Financial Times in February. "The risk is that we get drawn into a conflict and can't sustain our presence, and this exposes a strategic weakness."