The Royal Navy's HMS Prince of Wales has been in Norway as part of the carrier strike group’s deployment across the North Atlantic and Arctic. Photo / Getty Images
The Royal Navy’s flagship £3 billion ($6.9b) aircraft carrier has broken down again.
HMS Prince of Wales, which has encountered a long list of problems since its maiden voyage in 2021, has been forced to dock in Norway for repairs.
British defence sources described the problem as a “minor technical issue”, though a senior naval source told the Daily Mail it had been “devastating for morale”.
The head of the Armed Forces called on the Government “to spend more on defence and do it faster”, adding Britain was facing “the most dangerous times I’ve known”.
HMS Prince of Wales is docked in Stavanger, southwest Norway, where the issue has been identified.
The ship is in the region as part of the carrier strike group’s deployment across the North Atlantic and Arctic. The Nato exercise has been described as a “powerful show of force” to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) declined to say what the problem was, but a spokesman told The Telegraph they “expect her to set sail in the coming days”.
The Daily Mail reported that the mechanical issue was understood to involve the propeller shaft, which has been a recurring issue for the HMS Prince of Wales and her sister ship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth.
A source told the newspaper: “With morale already rock-bottom over defence spending and delays over the [defence investment plan], the last thing the Royal Navy needed was HMS Prince of Wales marooned in a Norwegian fjord.
“Then, to rub salt into the wounds, it appears the breakdown has been caused by the recurrence of a previous problem.”
The 65,000-tonne ship broke down off England’s south coast in 2022 after damage to its propeller shaft, while separate propeller issues were again identified the following year.
Similar problems have been reported on the HMS Queen Elizabeth. In 2024, its participation in the largest Nato exercise since the Cold War was cancelled at the last minute after an “issue” with a propeller shaft was spotted during final checks.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly insulted both aircraft carriers, dismissing them as “old and broken down” and calling them “toys”.
On Friday, Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, called for Britain to spend more on defence and do it faster.
He warned Russia was “raising the stakes and risks crossing a line”, adding that it was the most dangerous period he had known.
The British Government is expected to unveil the long-delayed defence investment plan, which will set out funding for new equipment and infrastructure, on Thursday, according to industry sources.
The plan should have been released last year, but a failure by the MoD and the Treasury to agree on the size of additional funding required by the Armed Forces meant the date was repeatedly pushed back.
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