The £3 billion warship left Portsmouth Naval Base final Saturday on its solution to the US for diplomatic visits and workout routines, together with flight trials with the F-35B Lightning jets.
The Navy introduced on Friday that sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth, the fleet flagship, would sail subsequent week to take over its US duties.
Shortly after the Prince of Wales, the Nato flagship, sailed final Saturday, a mechanical fault was found with the starboard shaft.
The departure of the 65,000-tonne ship had already been delayed from the day gone by due to a technical downside however a choice was taken to sail anyway.
The service sailed again slowly to Stokes Bay at Gosport, Hampshire, on Monday travelling at a fee of 4 knots accompanied by tugs for the return journey to calmer waters.
Navy divers have been inspecting the ship and located {that a} coupling on the starboard propeller shaft had failed.
The shaft is a mix of metal poles joined along with a shaft coupling, one among which has failed.
It’s understood this was brought on by a mechanical failure not due to a failure to maintain the coupling greased.
HMS Prince of Wales left Stokes Bay on Saturday afternoon accompanied by three tugs and returned to Portsmouth Naval Base beneath the ability of a single propeller.
A wake may solely be seen on the port aspect of the ship because it returned whereas being assisted by the tug Apex and two pilot boats.
Customers and well-wishers lined the harbour partitions to catch a glimpse of the enormous ship’s return, dwarfing the buildings of Outdated Portsmouth because it handed by.
It should now unload crew and tools and stay on the port whereas additional inspections are carried out earlier than it heads to dry dock for repairs, in all probability at Rosyth in Scotland the place it was constructed.
The Nato flagship had been crusing to undertake coaching workout routines with the US Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the US Marine Corps.
Now that is an especially uncommon fault and we proceed to pursue all restore choices
The crew of the HMS Queen Elizabeth have been notified they’ll now be crusing to the US, altering its earlier plans for deployments to the Baltic and Mediterranean this autumn.
Navy chiefs and the Authorities are believed to be assessing which of the US commitments together with the Atlantic Future Discussion board in New York on the finish of September are important for a service and which will be carried out by different ships from the fleet.
The Navy had mentioned previous to the departure of HMS Prince of Wales that notable port stops throughout the three-month deployment could be in New York, Halifax in Canada and the Caribbean.
Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, director of Drive Technology, who’s liable for ensuring Royal Navy ships are able to deploy, confirmed on Friday that HMS Queen Elizabeth would take over the US duties.
He mentioned: “Royal Navy divers have inspected the starboard shaft of the shift and the adjoining areas and so they have confirmed there’s important injury to the shaft on the propeller and a few superficial injury to the rudder however no injury to the remainder of the ship.
“Our preliminary evaluation has proven that coupling that joins the ultimate two sections of the shaft has failed.
“Now that is an especially uncommon fault and we proceed to pursue all restore choices.”