The future HMS Cardiff, the second of eight Type 26 City-class frigates being built for the Royal Navy, was transferred to a barge on 30 August 2024 and has left BAE Systems’ Govan shipyard to be moved to a deep-water location in the west of Scotland.
Once in position, and over a number of hours, the barge will submerge and the anti-submarine warfare frigate will enter the water for the first time. The ship will then return to BAE Systems’ Scotstoun shipyard, where it will undergo the next stages of outfitting before being tested and commissioned.
“Seeing the latest ship in the water for the first time will be a proud and exciting moment for the thousands of people involved in this great national endeavour,” David Shepherd, BAE’s Type 26 programme director, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “The Type 26 has awesome and world-leading capability and we’re looking forward to installing HMS Cardiff’s complex systems and bringing her to life.”
Pat Browning, Type 26 team leader at the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation, added, “We are delighted to have reached this key milestone in the build programme for HMS Cardiff. This is a significant achievement for the entire Type 26 programme team and is a moment we can all be proud of, as we continue to work towards delivering the new fleet of the Royal Navy’s most cutting-edge anti-submarine warfare frigates.”
The float-off process is a more modern, efficient and low-risk way for newly built ships to enter the water compared to the previous dynamic launches down a slipway. The float-off process was used for the first of class, Glasgow, in November 2022 as well as the five Royal Navy offshore patrol vessels that BAE Systems also built in Glasgow, the last of which was delivered in 2020.
Glasgow is undergoing the outfit of its combat and mission systems at Scotstoun, while Belfast and Birmingham are under construction at Govan.
The build process for each ship involves its structure being completed in Govan, where skilled teams of fabricators and steelworkers construct the units before they are assembled into two main blocks, which are joined together externally on the hardstanding before the ship departs. Cardiff will be the last Type 26 to have this initial work partly constructed outside, as the new multi-million-pound shipbuilding hall in Govan will enable the teams to complete the structures of the remaining frigates indoors.
In Scotstoun the ship’s outfitting is completed and the complex systems are installed before testing and commissioning takes place. As the first ship in class, Glasgow is expected to be commissioned in 2028.
