The Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier

[tixntox]

The Russians are just jealous. Their carrier, the partly floating old unreliable junkpile Kuznetzov, is all but useless. It actually has an ocean going tug with in case it breaks down! Which it does regularly!

They don't need radar to track the Kutzitsnutsoff they just follow the smoke! :)

[VDG]

Slow news day.

I say a very slow news day old bean.

[CriticalMass]

Leaking stern seal? No big deal. Probably a Simplex oil-filled system and a balance of internal oil pressure and external sea water pressure. Increasing seal oil pressure causes external oil leakage (and pollution). Allowing water ingress instead keeps the problem contained and the water can be removed from the system by decanting or separation. The seals can be routinely renewed afloat by ballasting fwd to clear the seal box or by divers using a mobdoc or cofferdam arrangement. Luckily the days of stern gland repacking are long gone. In 25 years at sea I've seen dozens of these seals repaired and the only time it required dry docking and tail shaft removal was due to shaft damage.

It must be a slooooow day in the MSM.

I may be wrong but I believe that they have an emergency inflatable seal which can be pumped up to permit work on the seal without breaching watertight integrity.

I can’t believe the press and TV coverage- BBC insisting this is “highly embarrassing “ to the RN. Why exactly? Who would be embarrassed if the had a minor fault on a new car that was fixed under warranty.

BBC continued to pedal this line despite several interviewees insisting that it was a minor issue. At one stage they wheeled out a Naval Historian to comment; a marine engineer might have been more useful.

[TheFlyingBanana]

Leaking stern seal? No big deal. Probably a Simplex oil-filled system and a balance of internal oil pressure and external sea water pressure. Increasing seal oil pressure causes external oil leakage (and pollution). Allowing water ingress instead keeps the problem contained and the water can be removed from the system by decanting or separation. The seals can be routinely renewed afloat by ballasting fwd to clear the seal box or by divers using a mobdoc or cofferdam arrangement. Luckily the days of stern gland repacking are long gone. In 25 years at sea I've seen dozens of these seals repaired and the only time it required dry docking and tail shaft removal was due to shaft damage.

It must be a slooooow day in the MSM.

Yeah. I was going to say that but you beat me to it.

Repacking those stern glands eh? I’m glad that’s well in the past now.

😜

[Dunce]

I may be wrong but I believe that they have an emergency inflatable seal which can be pumped up to permit work on the seal without breaching watertight integrity.

I can’t believe the press and TV coverage- BBC insisting this is “highly embarrassing “ to the RN. Why exactly? Who would be embarrassed if the had a minor fault on a new car that was fixed under warranty.

BBC continued to pedal this line despite several interviewees insisting that it was a minor issue. At one stage they wheeled out a Naval Historian to comment; a marine engineer might have been more useful.

No, you're right about an inflatable seal. It's used to shut off any sea water ingress by sealing around the stopped shaft. Not all manufacturers use this but the likes of Simplex and Deep Sea Seals do. Having recently retired from the industry please allow me a walk down memory lane with a couple of seal repair pictures from my library.

Build a tent and pump it full of air. Same technology as used by ancient Greeks and Romans for bridge foundation building.



Pop inside for the repair itself. Simples.

[CriticalMass]

No, you're right about an inflatable seal. It's used to shut off any sea water ingress by sealing around the stopped shaft. Not all manufacturers use this but the likes of Simplex and Deep Sea Seals do. Having recently retired from the industry please allow me a walk down memory lane with a couple of seal repair pictures from my library.

Build a tent and pump it full of air. Same technology as used by ancient Greeks and Romans for bridge foundation building.



Pop inside for the repair itself. Simples.

I have dealt with Deep Sea Seals many times as an engineer in the submarine business. Seal leakage not unknown but, of course, depth dependent.

[watchlovr]

POW has the same issue. I’m just watching it edge out of dry dock as I write this.

[BillyCasper]

It’s going to need fixing?
It will cost millions?
It will be FoC to RN because BAE & sub-contractors will be picking up full costs?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tooks]

It’s going to need fixing?
It will cost millions?
It will be FoC to RN because BAE & sub-contractors will be picking up full costs?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Whenever we talk about who will be picking up the costs for fixing snags like this, it’s worth remembering the cost estimate for each carrier has risen from £1.5Bn in 2007 to £3.1Bn at completion.

So, FoC is probably a stretch!