A 'national flag ship' planned to replace Royal Yacht

[Metabarca]

My guess is that you been 'out the country' for too long

Our Majesty etc does not get by on Swank so no need for a Mega Yacht, thats far too 'down market. She gets by on Class, Breeding, Knowing whats right and whats not; not by making a killing in business deals etc etc.

Embasssies are not safe places anymore, are they ?

Guess that the Royal Family get by on Pomp and Cerermony, accepted good standing, etc etc

Eh? What are you on about? Leaving out the rose-tinted view of her maj, I think you're a bit wide of the mark re the embassies too. (But perhaps you work for Horlicks that is looking for an entrance to the Afghan market?). I had a very civilised dinner at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires, and it was nothing like the scene in Carry on up the Khyber: no explosions. no bothersome natives (except those at the table admiring the British government at outdoing them in banananess), no bullets in the soup.
But anyway, as stated, this would be a 'national yacht' (as in 'book your ride now!'?) and in that regard it would be like turning up in a Morris Minor. Quaint but but irrelevant (all the more so as most of it would come from abroad).

 

[JumbleDuck]

I am intrigued by the suggestion that HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Prince of Wales might be suitable for getting trade agreements. Does anyone (other than JRM) think that sending gunboats in is still a way to wring concessions from foreigners?

 

[penfold]

I am intrigued by the suggestion that HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Prince of Wales might be suitable for getting trade agreements. Does anyone (other than JRM) think that sending gunboats in is still a way to wring concessions from foreigners?

Gunboat diplomacy works quite well with states the UK has bilateral defence agreements with, strangely they are grateful when Brenda's big grey war canoes turn up and show the flag. Perhaps it impresses covetous neighbours?

 

[Kukri]

“outdoing Argentina in banananess”

Love it!

 

[Kukri]

I am intrigued by the suggestion that HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Prince of Wales might be suitable for getting trade agreements. Does anyone (other than JRM) think that sending gunboats in is still a way to wring concessions from foreigners?

As advertisements for British shipbuilding and marine engineering, the only reaction they generate is laughter.

 

[JumbleDuck]

As advertisements for British shipbuilding and marine engineering, the only reaction they generate is laughter.

Another slight disadvantage. Can't see the tacky gin palace suggested here improving things, though.

 

[dom]

Another slight disadvantage. Can't see the tacky gin palace suggested here improving things, though.

What my Swan Boat suggestion for £gazillions!!

 

[Frogmogman]

What my Swan Boat suggestion for £gazillions!!

?

 

[Poignard]

Bearing in mind our next monarch's enthusiasm for sustainable energy, something like this might be appropriate:

 

[Switch]

As advertisements for British shipbuilding and marine engineering, the only reaction they generate is laughter.

Don’t see many people laughing when they sail in out of Portsmouth harbour. Most who see them think they are quite impressive.

 

[penfold]

It rather depends on what is being measured; there are only 6 nations in the flattop biz, even the US struggle to get it right and they've been doing it continuously since the 1920s. The UK took a break from building for25 years and the corporate knowledge bank evaporated like snow off a dyke. Not unlike the gap between building the last Trafalgar class sub and the first Astute causing a lot of problems at Barrow because it was the blind leading the blind, most personnel with experience buggered off and did other things or retired.

 

[Kukri]

It rather depends on what is being measured; there are only 6 nations in the flattop biz, even the US struggle to get it right and they've been doing it continuously since the 1920s. The UK took a break from building for25 years and the corporate knowledge bank evaporated like snow off a dyke. Not unlike the gap between building the last Trafalgar class sub and the first Astute causing a lot of problems at Barrow because it was the blind leading the blind, most personnel with experience buggered off and did other things or retired.

That’s absolutely right in my (merchant ship building, as buyer) experience. Once you shut down, your team goes in all directions. If you are building continually, people can leave the team and be replaced and the other team members will get them up to speed in no time, while the amount of knowledge and experience in the team is always growing.

It’s a truism that the first ship of a class will have all the mistakes and the last one will have all the components that were knocked back by the supervision team from the sisters.

Building this, at Harland and Wolff in 1993, the only man in the yard who had ever chocked a main engine was the head of the supervision team. True.

 

[Kukri]

Don’t see many people laughing when they sail in out of Portsmouth harbour. Most who see them think they are quite impressive.

I am sure they do. But I fancy that rather few of them will be buying new ships.

 

[Bouba]

I am sure they do. But I fancy that rather few of them will be buying new ships.

No, but they will collaborate. Most nations will build their own capital ships if at all possible. It’s for strategic and political reasons, just like Britain built the QE class

 

[dom]

That’s absolutely right in my (merchant ship building, as buyer) experience. Once you shut down, your team goes in all directions. .......If you are building continually, people can leave the team and be replaced and the other team members will get them up to speed in no time, while the amount of knowledge and experience in the team is always growing.

That’s absolutely consistent with my experience as an investor. One can think of it as a combination of unique DNA and evolved corporate knowledge.

When it‘s gone, it’s gone. And only recoverable at a significantly higher price point.

 

[Switch]

I am sure they do. But I fancy that rather few of them will be buying new ships.

I don’t think we expect to sell aircraft carriers to any one else, moreover, as an example of UK plc design and manufacturing and showing the flag around the globe you’d be hard pushed to have a more visible asset,

 

[Metabarca]

If you are building continually, people can leave the team and be replaced and the other team members will get them up to speed in no time, while the amount of knowledge and experience in the team is always growing.

And that's why shipyards specialise. Down the road from me at Monfalcone, they churn out cruise ships at the rate of 3 or 4 a year. They have it down to a fine art with modular parts created on site or by suppliers (the cabins arrive as individual units and slotted in. All that needs doing is join the wires and pipes and put the sheets on the bed). A couple of days sea trial and off they go, because everything is a known quantity in terms of stability, fuel consumption, systems... Wartsila produces the engines in Trieste. Fincantieri also produce megayachts. Perhaps HMG would like to give them a call!

 

[Bouba]

And that's why shipyards specialise. Down the road from me at Monfalcone, they churn out cruise ships at the rate of 3 or 4 a year. They have it down to a fine art with modular parts created on site or by suppliers (the cabins arrive as individual units and slotted in. All that needs doing is join the wires and pipes and put the sheets on the bed). A couple of days sea trial and off they go, because everything is a known quantity in terms of stability, fuel consumption, systems... Wartsila produces the engines in Trieste. Fincantieri also produce megayachts. Perhaps HMG would like to give them a call!

There’s an Eu Law where warships don’t have to go to the lowest bidder but can be built in their home country. The problem is navy supply ships, the unions want the law stretched to include them. But government’s don’t because they just want them cheap and cheerful and on time. Warships are prestige items and so they put up with the massive cost overruns and the years behind schedule and the fact that they rarely work as requested

 

[Kukri]

A related problem with naval supply ships is that the Government does not have the skilled teams described above which allow it to get value for money at home or in shipbuilding nations. I have a friend, known to many of us as he runs an East Coast boatyard, who is capable of getting absolutely livid about this as he was part of the supervision team for the last four UK built RFAs.

His list of the ways in which the (British) builders ran rings round the (British) Government, from contract (“Problem was, their lawyers were paid four times what the Government lawyers were paid)”) and spec., to supervisions, to trials, can take an hour. Good listening, though.

 

[Wansworth]

If I recall correctly it was a Spanishshipyard on the north coast on the ria de Ribedeo that won the contract for building the Antarctic survey vessel” sir Richard Attenborough,a small yard,that has a very skilled workforce eminently suited to build the new british flag ship if required.