This week, the
North Devon Journal had a story about how the shipyard at Appledore delivered some of the first parts for CVF.
Appledore shipyard kicks off mega warship project
CONSTRUCTION of the biggest warship ever built in the British Isles was due to begin this week with the arrival of its first delivery of parts — from Appledore Shipyard.
The North Devon yard's first contribution towards one of the Ministry of Defence's largest shipbuilding projects ever was described as the milestone that would kick off the whole assembly process.
A 100m Russian ship arrived in Appledore last Wednesday. It was loaded up with 300 tonnes of steel blocks called sponsons, and set sail for Rosyth in Scotland on Friday.
The blocks will form part of the sides of the two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers, giving the flight deck the width needed to enable movement of planes. They have been described by the team as "a bit like mega-Lego" and are the first of about 20 shipments from Appledore which will be put together in Scotland.
Shipbuilding director, Andy Hamilton, said: "We are very proud here in Appledore. These are the first units to arrive on site for the carrier project and it is a big milestone for us."
Appledore's £50 million Queen Elizabeth Class Carrier project has secured 300 jobs in North Devon until 2015 and instilled a new found sense of confidence.
The first piece of steel was cut on December 15 last year and the project has so far been running to schedule.
It wasn't so long ago that the future of shipbuilding at Appledore looked bleak - see
here. Remember the Government was not involved in bringing this yard back to life, industry was. However I have no doubt that the local MPs also share some of the credit.
There are, of course, other local companies involved in producing parts for CVF, other warships, and the JSF/F35. The current work at Appledore continues a tradition of shipbuilding that goes back centuries. We are fortunate that our forefathers had the foresight to build ships and spread our influence beyond our continental backyard.