Navy officials said the misfiring sprinklers were quickly isolated, the water stopped and cleared – and that some damage was caused in the hangar but not to the rest of the 65,000-tonne leviathan.
The blow caused plans for the aircraft carrier to sail out of Portsmouth yesterday to be cancelled at the 11th hour.
However, the navy has insisted the incident will not hinder the ship’s next phase of rotary wing sea trials. A spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that following a routine exercise alongside, the fire warning system was inadvertently triggered on-board HMS Queen Elizabeth and some sprays activated, but she remains on track with her trials programme.’ (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on the Portsmouth News website.
UPDATE – Jan 31, 2018 by Portsmouth Naval Base
We know how keen some of our Portsmouth residents are to see @HMSQNLS sail. Work is ongoing to rectify an issue with the ship’s fire safety system. We hope to provide you with an update on a new sailing date- weather permitting- in due course.
— HMNB Portsmouth (@HMNBPortsmouth) January 30, 2018
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