Galvanized pressure vessels

On 7 December 2017, after months of sea trials, HMS Queen Elizabeth was commissioned. This is one of two new aircraft carriers for the UK – alongside the HMS Prince of Wales – collectively known as the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers.

Over 10,000 people from a range of SME’s across the UK helped to build the ships, and we’re proud to say that Joseph Ash Telford, as a supplier to our client Abbot & Co, have played a part.

Abbot & Co was founded in 1870 in Newark, Nottinghamshire. It has 40 members of staff, and a long tradition of supplying the Ministry of Defence with air receivers and specially designed and fabricated pressure vessels.

Pressure vessels are used for diesel engine starting, diesel pumping and radar cooling.

Joseph Ash Galvanizing has been a longstanding supplier to Abbot & Co, with our Telford plant regularly galvanizing the pressure vessels and air receivers which they fabricate.

Henry Price, Managing Director of Abbot & Co, was proud to be involved in the new aircraft carrier project. He said: “There’s a huge sense of pride that our company is involved in such a prestigious project. It’s great to have local people from Newark working on a national project such as this, there’s a real sense of comradery. It’s also brilliant for manufacturing in the UK to have young people involved in a project such as this as it helps show British industry at its best.”

The two new aircraft carriers each weigh 65,000 tonnes, and are 280 metre’s in length. They can carry up to 250 Royal Marines, a complement of 679 personnel, and 40 aircraft including F-35B Lightning II fighter jets, Chinook helicopters, Apache AH64 helicopters, Merlin HM2 and HC4s, and Wildcat AH1 and HMA2’s.

Mick Jackson, IT and Marketing Manager at Joseph Ash Galvanizing, said:

“In 2015/16 the MOD invested over £1.5bn in the Midlands, supporting over 10,000 full-time jobs. This has been a boon to the local economy and local communities. It’s also been wonderful to see that one of our valued clients – Abbot & Co – have been one of the 700 British SMEs to support the build of these aircraft carriers. We’re also thankful to Abbot & Co for trusting us to galvanize the pressure vessels for the ships. We have been a supplier to Abbot & Co for years. It feels good to know that we can collectively play a small part in protecting our nation’s future security.”

HMS Queen Elizabeth has some further sea trials to undergo, and HMS Prince of Wales needs to be completed before it starts sea trials in 2019. Both ships are expected to be fully operational by 2020.