HMS Prince of Wales: Royal Navy gives update on what has gone wrong with aircraft carrier - the starboard shaft

The aircraft carrier left her home port at lunchtime on Saturday to head for exercises in the US, but it emerged this morning that she was still off the south coast, five miles off Shanklin on the Isle of Wight after a fault developed. She has returned to the Solent, being tugged in at about four knots to calmer waters for inspections.

This latest blow came after her departure had been delayed from Friday.

So far the navy has not commented, despite speculation that there was a problem with a propeller. Some have suggested that she will need to go to dry dock to be fixed.

But now Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, the director of Force Generation at Navy Command – and a former commanding officer of HMS Prince of Wales – has visited the ship and released a video statement.

Speaking from the ship, he said he was ‘off the coast of Portsmouth’, and described himself as ‘responsible for making sure Royal Navy ships are ready to deploy wherever they are needed’.

Rear Adml Moorhouse said: ‘Shortly after the ship sailed on Saturday a mechanical fault was discovered with the starboard shaft.

‘I've been to the ship today to see for myself what the issue is and how we in the Royal Navy can work together to make sure that the ship can successfully return to her tasking.

‘After the initial assessment, it is likely that the fault will require repairs, which may impact the ship's programme.’

The immediate impact would mean the carrier may miss flight trials with the F-35B Lightning jets off the US coast as part of the Westlant22 exercises.

Although he did not mention Stokes Bay, Rear Adml Moorhouse added: ‘The ship is now moving to a more sheltered anchorage for further inspection and then we'll be able to provide further comment on the nature of the issue and the impact to her current schedule.

‘We've reacted quickly to the emergent defect and are working closely with industry partners to resolve this as soon as we can.

‘Rest assured, the Royal Navy continues to meet its commitments to deliver operations and to keep the UK, our partners and allies safe.’

Writing on Twitter himself, Rear Adml Moorhouse said: ‘Not the start to Westlant22 we were hoping for but great to see the Carrier Enterprise come together so quickly to understand what has happened and the route to recovery.’