Days at Sea Cost Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales 328 Days in Dock. A Failed Coupling on Her Starboard Propeller Shaft Was the Problem

Britain’s 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales suffered a propulsion coupling failure that effectively wiped out its North America deployment. The ship sailed from Portsmouth on August 27, 2022, but within two days anchored off the Isle of Wight after a failed coupling on the starboard propeller shaft. The mission was canceled and repairs later cost about £25 million. Prince of Wales didn’t leave dry dock at Rosyth until July 21, 2023. The official investigation pointed beyond bad luck: the starboard shaft was misaligned during construction and key components were installed incorrectly. Engineers also found and fixed a port-shaft alignment issue, while checks on HMS Queen Elizabeth found no class-wide problem.