U.K. Royal Navy Warship HMS Illustrious arrives in Fife for £40m refit
UNITED KINGDOM - 1 FEBRUARY 2010
Royal Navy warship HMS Illustrious has sailed into Scotland ahead of a £40m refit in Fife.
The vessel sailed under the Forth Bridges and docked at Crombie in Fife.
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy greeted the 685ft ship as it headed up the Firth of Forth and met apprentices due to work on the carrier.
The Ministry of Defence contract with Babcock will provide employment for about 300 people for 18 months until August 2011.
Mr Murphy, who sailed alongside Illustrious on HMS Archer, hailed the contract as a boost to the Scots economy.
He said UK defence contracts had prompted a resurgence in Scotland's shipbuilding industry.
"It's heartening to see businesses, some of them small family-owned firms, with full order books, able to take on young apprentices and give them a real future," he said.
"And it's amazing to think that in just a decade, eight Navy ships have been launched on the Clyde and an incredible 45 ships have undergone maintenance and refit at Rosyth, all work worth billions of pounds for Scotland's economy and employment prospects.
"Aircraft carriers have a crucial role within the armed forces and on operations worldwide, so these upgrades are part of the government's strategy to ensure we have the best people, the best equipment and capabilities to meet modern-day defence challenges."
HMS Illustrious, known as Lusty by her crew, participated in most major UK and Nato campaigns since she was commissioned in Portsmouth in 1982.
She was first deployed to the Falklands and over the years operated in the first Gulf War, Sierra Leone and the war in Afghanistan.
A previous refit was carried out at Rosyth in 2002 at a cost of £118m.
The latest work will involve replacing 500 metres of pipework, 650 valves and all eight exhausts; painting the ship with 540,000 litres of paint; and making the ship more fuel-efficient.
The contract is part of a continuous programme of work at the dockyard before the assembly of two new Navy super carriers begins.
Commodore Charles Stevenson, Naval regional commander for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "This work will allow HMS Illustrious to continue as a highly-flexible strategic defence asset for a number of years, capable of taking part in military operations across the globe."
Source: BBC News
File Photos: U.K. Royal Navy HMS Illustrious
UNITED KINGDOM - 1 FEBRUARY 2010
Royal Navy warship HMS Illustrious has sailed into Scotland ahead of a £40m refit in Fife.
The vessel sailed under the Forth Bridges and docked at Crombie in Fife.
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy greeted the 685ft ship as it headed up the Firth of Forth and met apprentices due to work on the carrier.
The Ministry of Defence contract with Babcock will provide employment for about 300 people for 18 months until August 2011.
Mr Murphy, who sailed alongside Illustrious on HMS Archer, hailed the contract as a boost to the Scots economy.
He said UK defence contracts had prompted a resurgence in Scotland's shipbuilding industry.
"It's heartening to see businesses, some of them small family-owned firms, with full order books, able to take on young apprentices and give them a real future," he said.
"And it's amazing to think that in just a decade, eight Navy ships have been launched on the Clyde and an incredible 45 ships have undergone maintenance and refit at Rosyth, all work worth billions of pounds for Scotland's economy and employment prospects.
"Aircraft carriers have a crucial role within the armed forces and on operations worldwide, so these upgrades are part of the government's strategy to ensure we have the best people, the best equipment and capabilities to meet modern-day defence challenges."
HMS Illustrious, known as Lusty by her crew, participated in most major UK and Nato campaigns since she was commissioned in Portsmouth in 1982.
She was first deployed to the Falklands and over the years operated in the first Gulf War, Sierra Leone and the war in Afghanistan.
A previous refit was carried out at Rosyth in 2002 at a cost of £118m.
The latest work will involve replacing 500 metres of pipework, 650 valves and all eight exhausts; painting the ship with 540,000 litres of paint; and making the ship more fuel-efficient.
The contract is part of a continuous programme of work at the dockyard before the assembly of two new Navy super carriers begins.
Commodore Charles Stevenson, Naval regional commander for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "This work will allow HMS Illustrious to continue as a highly-flexible strategic defence asset for a number of years, capable of taking part in military operations across the globe."
Source: BBC News
File Photos: U.K. Royal Navy HMS Illustrious
