Royal Navy: Key bridge system for HMS Venturer constructed in Portsmouth as ship building in Rosyth continues

Key systems have been built for Inspiration-class Type 31 frigate HMS Venturer. It has been over two years since the first steel was cut for the vessel and when she was laid down. Her first crew members caught their first glimpse of how she was taking shape in the summer of 2023.

HMS Venturer's crew have been in Portsmouth and have caught a first glimpse of the ship's new bridge system, while further construction work is being carried out by Babcock shipbuilders in the cavernous assembly hall at Rosyth in Fife, Scotland.

Many of these systems - including the ‘Warship Integrated Navigation and Bridge System’ - are being designed and tested at the National Maritime Systems Centre on Portsdown Hill. The integrated bridge system has been developed by Anschütz UK, a firm which draws upon nearly 120 years of developing navigational systems for ships.

The Venturer team asked technical questions on how the system will operate, as well as gaining understanding of the training plan. Commander Chris Cozens, HMS Venturer’s Senior Naval Officer, said: "It is great to see the bridge systems which will soon be coming to the ship, it makes the ship come alive and turns HMS Venturer into a highly-capable next generation warship, and of course takes us one step closer to her sea trials and delivery into service."

The bridge system has been tested and will be carefully dismantled, packaged and sent to Rosyth. It will be installed on the ship later this year. Glen Cheadle, Managing Director of Anschütz UK, said: "We were delighted to host HMS Venturer’s team to give them a taste of the system they will be using once the ship is in service and to begin to build the same relationship with them that we have with the T45 crews."

While this has been taking place, shipbuilders have been testing calculations for the new vessel. Naval architects have recently lifted and weighed the vessel three times to make sure all the weight calculations were correct. She is longer than 11 London buses and it took 84 power hydraulic jacks to raise her - with load cells taking precise measurements of the weight. Shipbuilders at Babcock are finishing the construction of the ship in the cavernous assembly hall at Rosyth in Fife, Scotland. The new bridge system is ready to be installed on the ship.

The project to construct the second Type 31 ship, HMS Active, is being carried out alongside it. It is expected that HMS Venturer will leave the hall this year paving way for the third frigate, HMS Formidable. Fitting out and installing the kit and systems will be added to HMS Venturer afterwards.