Royal Navy engineers formally welcomed by the trials and commissioning team

The Trials and Commissioning Charter was formally agreed by the ACA Head of Wholeship Systems & Commissioning, Mr Dougie Sharp, and the Senior Naval Officer, Captain Ian Groom MBE earlier this month, symbolising a major milestone in support of the delivery of HMS Prince of Wales.

Demonstrating a unique partnership between Industry and the Royal Navy (RN), 74 of the Ship’s Marine and Weapon engineers will be employed within the industry led commissioning teams as the ship’s systems and equipment are brought to life.

The men and women who make up the RN contingent will be fully embedded within T&C activities in order to gain the knowledge and expertise required to operate the ship safely in the future, which is a fundamental element of their interim training package.  

Leading Engineer Technician Thomas Handley who is the newest member of the T&C team from HMS Prince of Wales said: “I’ve just recently joined the ship, having previously spent one year with HMS Queen Elizabeth.

"Being part of the T&C team is a great way to continue to build my knowledge of the ship and really get the hands on training with the systems and kit on board.”

As it stands, the small, but rapidly growing, Ship’s Company of 60 includes 22 T&C engineers who are already learning on-the-job alongside their industry counterparts. 

This charter underpins the full commitment that will be given by the ACA and the RN over forthcoming months as they work together to prepare HMS Prince of Wales for sea trials in 2018.