Life Inside Aircraft Carrier - So is life in a floating city, built for a bigger battle than the Titanic, with a larger population than some cities – and it's so labyrinthine it has a navigation app. Such is life on the largest ship of the Royal Navy.
Rear view of HMS Queen Elizabeth arriving at Portland, Dorset in 2017. The ship and its sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, are the largest and most powerful ever commissioned by the Royal Navy - and the most expensive at £3 billion.
Life Inside Aircraft Carrier
"The night flight deck is one of the most dangerous environments in the world." Captain James Blackmore, who is in charge of all the planes aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth, is not being overly dramatic.
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When this new British aircraft carrier is fully operational in 2021 - trials are currently underway off the coast of North America - it will command an entire fleet of F35B Lightning II fighter jets and helicopters from the 280-metre flight deck. , including the Merlin MK2, which specializes in anti-submarine warfare. There is room for up to 40 aircraft on board.
Blackmore will be able to lift his fighters under battle stations using a "ski jump" with only 60 seconds or more between each take-off. The planes will return to the ship without fuel and land vertically. Helicopters can operate simultaneously.
All this results in a lot of metal and fuel crossing the sky above the ship. Blackmore says it takes "choreography" to coordinate so many planes. Then he uses the huge dance floor.
US Air Force F-35B Lightning jets land on HMS Queen Elizabeth off the US East Coast.
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The Royal Navy describes the cockpit of HMS Queen Elizabeth as a "four-acre sovereign zone". In fact, when you factor in 15 more decks - eight below and seven above on two bridges or "isles" - it's a much larger area.
The life of a sailor working under deck may not be that exciting, but it is also crazy. Along with its recently completed sister aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, which will be visiting Portsmouth for the first time this weekend, the colossal ship is the largest ever to set sail for the Royal Navy. It costs over £3 billion to build, weighs 65,000 tons, has a top speed of over 25 knots and a regular ship company of around 800 people. .
"During construction, workers had to use a special phone app to avoid getting lost in the bowels of the ship."
A diagram of the inside of the ship shows how these soldiers and women lived in a rabbit hole. More than 3,000 individual cabins and compartments house the tools, engines, services and people that make this floating city function and war, all connected by a maze of corridors, stairs and stairs. During construction, workers had to use a special phone app to avoid getting lost in the bowels of the ship.
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The homogeneous paintwork (1.5 million square feet, all warship gray, obviously) easily confuses newcomers, while the floor has helpful direction signs and arrows that flash in case of an emergency. There are even street signs nailed to the walls: for example, the corridors on deck 2 are named after famous streets in Edinburgh, one of the ship-bound cities. The ones on 5 Deck are named after the streets of London with which it is connected.
There are also lots of switches, dials, faucets, pipes, valves, and flashing lights lining the corridor walls – revealing like a sort of Richard Rogers-like building exterior, giving engineers easy access when needed.
"When HMS Queen Elizabeth is fully operational, it will be the flagship of an aircraft carrier strike group, accompanied by two frigates, two destroyers, a fuel support ship, a solid support ship and a nuclear attack submarine."
If this is a floating city, then it's more of a city for young people. The majority of the crew (60% according to the Navy) are under 25 years old.
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Captain Steve Moorhouse is the ship's commander. He explains that when HMS Queen Elizabeth is fully operational, it will be the flagship of an aircraft carrier strike group, accompanied by two frigates, two destroyers, a fuel support ship, a solid support ship, and a nuclear attack submarine. He and his crew could spend up to nine months at sea for any mission.
For her sailors and their women, Moorhouse says HMS Queen Elizabeth is both home and business. “When they are at sea, they cannot go ashore and go to the barracks, so they have a lot of free time. For example, sports facilities and gym equipment. There is a TV and cinema system on our ship. Connection with loved ones via wifi, email and phone is also available. It is clear that this communication needs to be cut from time to time during our operations, but we are routinely able to keep young people in touch with their loved ones at home.'
A Merlin Mk2 helicopter approaches an aircraft carrier (left) as blood is drained for transfusion from a Merlin Mk4 helicopter. The carrier holds a blood supply that can survive for 32 days, provided by the British Army Blood Supply Team. It can be filled by donors on board.
He lists some of the support staff his team has access to: physical therapists, dentists, doctors, surgeons, social workers, even a pastor. "Exactly what you would expect to find when wandering around any small town."
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Two of the ship's junior officers are Second Lieutenants Edward Bailey and Andrew Boyle, 21 and 27 years old, who both joined HMS Queen Elizabeth in May 2019. They talk about what life was like on the ship.
Accommodation consists of six-bed cabins for the junior crew (known as the lower classes) and two-berth cabins for the senior crew (known as the upper classes) and officers. Heads of departments like a single cabin. Meals are served in the mess halls and sailors are separated according to their rank. There is enough material on board for at least 45 days for the entire crew. Basic food and products can also be purchased at the NAAFI store, which Bailey says "looks a bit like Tesco Express." There is also a chapel.
In addition to the five gyms below deck, including a boxing gym, sailors are encouraged to exercise on the flight deck on the rare occasions when the flight deck is not operating. From time to time, competitions are held between different cafeterias.
"People are circling the neighborhood, playing football or playing rugby," Bailey says. He notes that the abrasive metal surface of the deck is perfect for airplane maneuvers in wet weather, but not so great for rugby players who fall.
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One sport that is very special to the Navy is something called bucket ball. "It's a version of handball with a ball made of duct tape and a man with a bucket to catch it," Boyle says.
Long hours at the ocean inevitably require a lot of screen time. TV programs and sporting events are transmitted via satellite via the British Force Broadcasting Service platform. "It's a tremendous morale booster," Bailey says.
Meals are prepared in the kitchen of HMS Queen Elizabeth. Meals can be served to the entire crew in 90 minutes - 45 minutes under operational conditions - and enough supplies are stored on board for up to 45 days at sea.
"Youngsters are allowed two cans of beer or cider a day—equivalent to a full volume of rum in modern times."
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In addition, the uploaded movies are viewed on the hard drives of various sailors. “When you have 80 people in your mix, you have access to thousands of movies,” Bailey adds. "Even if I've been at sea for five years, I don't think I'll have time to look at them all."
There is a 40 meter inflatable screen that can be placed in the aircraft hangar for watching TV, which is very popular. Captain Moorhouse suggests this could be put to good use when it's new next year.
The movie is out. Last year, the entire crew watched live video from the hangar when the F35Bs landed in the cockpit for the first time.
Although not recommended, alcohol consumption is allowed. There are bars in the dining halls of senior staff and officers. Meanwhile, teenagers are allowed to drink two cans of beer or cider a day - that's the equivalent of a bit of rum today.
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"There's a big drinking culture image in the Navy," Bailey says. “It's okay if we come to port and land and everyone is on vacation. But while we work, we work. Most people have that attitude."
The same moderation applies to romantic relationships between sailors. Currently, the gender breakdown aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth is 90% male, 10% female, and those on land leave stay on land leave, according to Bailey. “When you work on board, it is considered
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