By Ben Mitchell & Milo Boyd
A Royal Navy aircraft carrier was unable to set sail for a NATO exercise just a week after its sister ship also had to cancel.
The flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth was expected to lead the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War, but an "issue" with the starboard propeller coupling halted its departure last week.
Since then, the crew and base workers have been preparing the HMS Prince of Wales to take over in Exercise Steadfast Defender off Norway. Onlookers gathered at Portsmouth Harbour to watch the 65,000-tonne warship set sail on Sunday.
After the Ministry of Defence (MoD) police boats had secured the area and the harbour mouth was closed to traffic, HMS Prince of Wales failed to leave the jetty. It's unclear if the sailing was cancelled before the carrier was set to leave or whether it had made its first movements from the jetty at Portsmouth Naval Base.
This comes 18 months after HMS Prince of Wales broke down off the Isle of Wight due to a similar issue. A spectator who had come to wave off the carrier said: "I hope it hasn't broken down again." After about 20 minutes, the crowd started to disperse as word spread that the ship wasn't leaving.
An MoD spokesman said the sailing had been postponed and a future sailing time for HMS Prince of Wales would be announced later on Sunday. However, he didn't give a reason for the last-minute postponement. The spokesman added: "The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is due to sail from Portsmouth soon, subject to suitable tide and weather conditions."
The fleet flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth had been expected to depart from Portsmouth Naval Base last Sunday to lead the largest Nato exercise since the Cold War, involving more than 40 vessels.
But the sailing of the £3 billion warship was called off at the last minute after an "issue" was found in final checks with the starboard propeller coupling. Having HMS Queen Elizabeth out of action could affect the ability of the Royal Navy to deploy an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea amid the continuing threat by Iran-backed Houthi rebels - which armed forces minister James Heappey has suggested was being considered.
Announcing the change of plans, Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Andrew Burns said last week: "Routine pre-sailing checks identified an issue with a coupling on HMS Queen Elizabeth's starboard propeller shaft. As such, the ship will not sail on Sunday. HMS Prince of Wales will take her place on NATO duties and will set sail for Exercise Steadfast Defender as soon as possible."
HMS Prince of Wales broke down as it was heading to a diplomatic mission to carry out exercises with the US Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and the US Marine Corps. The carrier came to a halt off the Isle of Wight and was brought under tow back into harbour for the problem to be identified.
Inspections by divers and engineers found the carrier's 33-ton starboard propeller - the same weight as 30 Ford Fiesta cars - had malfunctioned, with a coupling holding it in place breaking.
An MoD spokesman said the issue on HMS Queen Elizabeth was "separate and not linked" to the earlier defect on its sister ship.
He said: "The issue identified is with the ship's shaft couplings. The ship's propeller shafts are too big to be made from a single piece of metal, so each shaft is made from three sections, which are connected using shaft couplings, which bind the shaft sections together."