英国22000吨的航母HMS Illustrious（卓越号）之前因为冰箱问题返航维修，现在又发现了新的故障。现在英国有两艘航母，分别为Ark Royal（皇家方舟号）和HMS Illustrious（卓越号），据称英国海军建造中的新航母讲被命名为HMS Queen Elizabeth（伊丽莎白女王号） and HMS Prince of Wales（威尔士亲王号）。
ONE of Britain’s biggest warships has had to return to port for the second time in two weeks for emergency repairs.
HMS Illustrious, a 22,000-ton aircraft carrier, put in to Portland harbour in Dorset this weekend to repair faults in its bilges, where any water taken on board is stored before being pumped out to sea.
Last month, just two days after setting sail from Portsmouth with nearly 1,000 crew on board, the ship had to return to base after a fault was discovered in a fridge used to store meat and vegetables. The navy believed this was a cheaper solution than flying out an emergency plumber.
When it next set out, the ship only made it a short way before the new fault was detected. It is not known when the latest repairs will be finished.
Illustrious, nickamed the Lusty, has been preparing to travel to the Indian Ocean to lead an international task force called Orion 08, which is supposed to visit 20 ports in the Mediterranean, Africa, the Middle East, and south-east Asia.
A naval spokesman said today: “There is a minor issue to do with removing oil from water in the bilge before it is pumped out to sea. A minor defect was identified but it did not mean the ship has been pumping oil into the sea.
“She will also be continuing her pre-deployment training”
The spokesman added: “This is an opportunity for the crew to do extra training on their roles in fires or floods, and how to defend against attack whilst in port.
“It is good to iron things out before they deploy properly. It is testing and trialling at this stage - an opportunity for more pre-deployment training. Some shore leave has also been allowed.”
The ship will try its luck a third time and will set sail “shortly”.
At the time of the fridge defect, the navy said: “It made sense to go back rather than see if it breaks down east of the Suez canal when we’d have to fly people out.”
Illustrious is due to remain in service until 2012. It and its sister ship the Ark Royal will be replaced by two far bigger carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales in 2014 and 2016.