Lower Block 02

Seen below is a 6,000 ton section of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth making stately progress under the Forth Bridges on Friday May 25 en-route to Babcock's Rosyth Dockyard.

The block - known as Lower Block 02 or LB02 - left BAE Systems’ Portsmouth yard, where it has been under construction for more than two years, on board a specialist sea-going barge last.

It makes up part of the lower section of the ship’s bow and stands over 20 meters high, 70 meters long and 40 meters wide.

LB02 is already fitted out to a very high standard. It houses everything from machine rooms to accommodation for some of the 650-strong crew.

The barge will sink and the block will be floated off. Meanwhile the Rosyth dry dock will be flooded and the 13,000 tonne section already under construction there will be floated out. LB02 will then be moved in, and the other section will be moved in behind it.

Once both sections are in place the dock will be drained and work to start integrating the sections will begin.

The aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a unique partnering relationship between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the UK Ministry of Defence.

 

 

 

 

Triparte Class Minehunter

Belgian Minehunter BNS Bellis M916

A joint venture of the navies of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the Tripartite class of minehunters were conceived in the 1970s and built in the 1980s. France built the mine-hunting equipment, Belgium provided the electronics, and the Netherlands constructed the propulsion train. France and the Netherlands originally bought 15, with Belgium buying 10.

Originally the 10 ships were built for the Belgian navy. All remaining Belgian vessels have undergone an extensive upgrade during 2004-2008 involving replacement of the anti-mine warfare equipment. Also called "CMT" for Chasseur de Mines Tripartite, They are named after flowers and are thus sometimes called the "Flower" class in international literature.

Currently in service:

Aster               M915

Bellis               M916

Crocus             M917

Lobelia            M921

Narcis              M923

Primula            M924

Formerly:

Iris	M920	Sold to France	Verseau	M651
Fuchsia	M919	Sold to France	Céphée	M652
Dianthus	M918	Sold to France	Capricorne	M653
Myosotis	M922	Sold to Bulgaria	Tsibar	M900

Bellis (M916) is a Tripartite-class minehunter of the Belgian Naval Component, launched on 14 February 1986 at the Mercantile-Belyard shipyard in Rupelmonde and christened by Ellen Goffinet-Rosman, the wife of the then Mayor of Arlon, on 18 September 1986. The patronage of the Bellis was accepted by the city of Arlon. She is the second of the Belgian Tripartite-class minehunters.

Commissioned on 13 August 1986, the ship was involved in the rescue of the Herald of Free Enterprise in March 1987.

The Tripartite class is a class of mine warfare vessel used by the navies of Belgium, France, the Netherlands, as well as Pakistan, Indonesia, Latvia, and Bulgaria.

She is seen here arriving in Leith on Friday 25th May 2012: