QUEEN ELIZABETH Takes Shape - A team of 40 moved the 11,300 tonne aft section, known as Lower Block 04, across the specially reinforced tarmac at the BAe Systems Govan yard in less than three hours, using 450 remote controlled transporters.   The Block will then be loaded onto one of the two biggest seagoing barges in the world, which will take it the 600 miles to Rosyth.

Lower Block 04 comes only 34 months after the first steel was cut on the section in January 2010.     The Block stands over 20 metres high and 80 metres long and is the largest hull section equating to around 20% of the overall weight of the ship, and is the final hull section to arrive in Rosyth.     Approximately 250 BAe employees from the Clyde will follow the Block to Rosyth where they will work in partnership with employees at Babcock to complete the assembly phase of this section of the carrier.

Meanwhile, production on both Lower Block 03 and 04 for the PRINCE OF WALES continues to progress at Govan, while the aft island for the first ship is underway at the Scotstoun yard.     BAe Systems is also manufacturing sections of hull at its Portsmouth facility. Additionally, the company is responsible for the design integration and testing of the ships’ complex mission and advanced communications systems.