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Hall of duty – frigate construction will speed up thanks to state-of-the-art assembly facility
26 June 2025
The rate of constructing the Navy’s next-generation frigates should speed up as work shifts to a state-of-the-art assembly hall.
Formally dedicated in memory of a wartime electrician who became a legendary figure in Glasgow as a pioneering woman in shipbuilding, the Janet Harvey Hall at BAE System’s Govan facility is large enough to allow two Type 26 warships side-by-side, most importantly shielded from the elements.
The first two vessels in the eight-ship class of leading-edge anti-submarine frigates were partially built under cover, but without the hall (170 metres long, 80 wide) had to be pieced together and completed outdoors, spending months at a time by the Clyde, fully exposed to the worst of the Glaswegian weather.
Now 500 workers per shift can work unhindered, aided by two 100-tonne cranes, and a pair of smaller ones.
The huge structure is currently home to ship no.3 in the Type 26 programme (HMS Belfast) and no.4 (HMS Birmingham).
Janet’s nieces joined Glasgow’s Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren in cutting the ribbon across the towering 33m long by 54m wide hall door, a symbolic gesture that officially opened the facility.
The hall is one of the key investments in modernising warship construction on the Clyde, with BAE pumping £300m into its yards at Govan and across the water in Scotstoun where the final fitting out and testing of systems takes place.
Simon Lister, Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Naval Ships business, said the Royal Navy would soon reap the benefits of the enhanced facilities.
“The world-class technology in the hall will transform the way we design and build warships and help to secure the long-term future for complex shipbuilding in Glasgow,” he added.
“With some of the best infrastructure anywhere in the world, Glasgow is once again at the forefront of maritime innovation.”
Images credit: BAE Systems