The recent naming ceremony of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth marks a major milestone in Tata Steel’s 12-year involvement in the project.
Over the period, the company has supplied 40,000t of steel and developed three entirely new grades of lighter and stronger steel specifically for the future flagship of the Royal Navy. Tata Steel will also supply steel for the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales. The naming ceremony will come five years after the first steel was manufactured at Tata Steel’s UK plants for HMS Queen Elizabeth and 33 months after the first section of the 280m long vessel entered the dry dock at Rosyth, Scotland to commence construction.
The project has involved a number of Tata Steel teams, including research and development, technical and production staff from five UK sites and mills. Alongside the mills, technical and supply chain experts, as well as a dedicated project management team, worked closely with BAE Systems to provide more than 90% of the steel used in the build. Tata Steel also worked closely with key suppliers including the UK’s leading independent service centre for the shipbuilding industry, Dent Steel.
Tata Steel supplied steel used in everything from the hull of the ship to the 130t ‘ski-jump’ section of the flight deck.
