By Tom Cotterill For Mailonline

Published: 12:21 EDT, 13 October 2022 | Updated: 02:51 EDT, 14 October 2022

Britain's biggest warship ever made has spent almost three-quarters of her life with the Royal Navy languishing in harbour instead of protecting the nation at sea, MailOnline can today reveal.

HMS Prince of Wales is the nation's newest aircraft carrier. One of two vessels of her class, she is touted by military chiefs as being one of the most powerful vessels in the world.

But the sophisticated £3.2billion leviathan has been plagued by technical gremlins with her latest humiliating problem forcing the woe-stricken supercarrier into a lengthy period of repairs in Rosyth, Scotland, after she broke down on her way to America.

Now it can be revealed that since being commissioned into the Royal Navy, in December 2019, the Nato flagship has spent more than two years - 749 days - docked, spending just 267 days at sea. 

The news comes as Queen Elizabeth sailed back to Portsmouth after taking the place of its sister ship on the diplomatic visit to the United States. 

A former naval commander said the length of time the mighty vessel had spent at sea was 'embarrassing' and added: 'Top brass won’t be happy.' 

The revelation about the Portsmouth-based vessel was made by Conservative defence minister Baroness Goldie.

Military sources revealed they are not sure exactly how long it will take to repair the vessel, with insiders suggesting it could take 'months not weeks' to get the ship back to full working order. 

HMS Prince of Wales could spend months undergoing repairs in Rosyth, Scotland. The ship is pictured in a dry dock facility on Wednesday afternoon

HMS Queen Elizabeth pictured returning to Portsmouth on Thursday after picking up the diplomatic mission of HMS Prince of Wales in America

The warship, pictured leaving Portsmouth on Friday evening, will have her broken starboard propeller fixed after it suffered a major fault in August

The vessel had spent more than a month alongside at Portsmouth Naval Base after she suffered a technical problem during her departure for America in August

The £3.2bn warship, the newest of Britain's two aircraft carriers, was supposed to sail to America but she suffered a serious fault with her starboard shaft which damaged the ship so severely that top brass were forced to call off its trip to the USA

The fiasco has left senior figures in the Royal Navy frustrated, according to a former naval commander. 

Lieutenant Commander Mike Critchley said: 'This is obviously embarrassing. You don't build huge warships and put all your eggs into one basket for her to just sit alongside...Top brass won’t be happy.'

A spokesman for the Royal Navy insisted the mighty warship 'will return to operations as soon as possible'.

But the situation has led to demands that the government is 'up front' about how long Prince of Wales will be out of action for.

Speaking to MailOnline, Labour's Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'At a time when threats are rising and the number of navy ships are set to fall further, we need them at sea not in dock.

'HMS Prince of Wales is a Nato flagship and ministers cannot allow ongoing problems to undermine the ability of our armed forces to take part in important joint exercises.

'The Government must be up front about the timeframe and cost of repairs, and ensure the UK can meet its commitments to Nato and our allies.'

The worries were echoed by Portsmouth South MP, Stephen Morgan who said he was 'concerned' at how many days the aircraft carrier had spent alongside.   

'With no clear timescale on when we can expect repairs to be completed, it raises serious questions for Government on UK sovereign capability and the cost to the taxpayer,' he added. 

‘These repairs and delays to them are unsustainable and ministers must get a grip of this problem quickly.’ 

The aircraft carrier is the second of two, 65,000-tonne behemoths built to serve the Royal Navy for the next five decades. HMS Prince of Wales pictured in the setting sun near Rosyth on Tuesday

HMS Prince of Wales arrived at Rosyth's dry dock facility on Tuesday. Here she is pictured making her way towards the dry dock

The ship had meant to be sailing to America, where she would remain until December carrying out tests of the F-35 stealth jet and diplomatic events. Instead, her sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth, had to be sent to America in September. Queen Elizabeth is pictured arriving in New York last month

HMS Queen Elizabeth was welcomed into New York by the UK’s Ambassador to the United States, Dame Karen Pierce, after the ship sailed past the iconic Statue of Liberty, pictured

HMS Prince of Wales is the second of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers commissioned into the Royal Navy.

Alongside her older sister, HMS Queen Elizabeth, the two vessels have a 50-year lifespan and are custom-built to operate the deadly new F-35 stealth jets.

But Baroness Goldie claimed the Prince of Wales has only spent 13 days with the lethal warplanes embarked, while the Queen Elizabeth has seen the jets based on board for 278 - the most significant stint coming during the ship's maiden mission to the Far East, last year.

However, speaking of how long the ships spent at sea the Tory peer added: 'It should be noted that, while deployed away from the UK, ships will spend both days at sea and alongside in ports around the world.'

She is Britain's newest aircraft carrier, but HMS Prince of Wales has seen her fair share of problems during her time with the Royal Navy.

January 2020 : About a month after being commissioned into the Royal Navy, about 100 members of the crew were forced to abandon ship and spend the night on sister vessel HMS Queen Elizabeth after Prince of Wales suffered a power cut in Portsmouth Harbour. Sources reportedly blamed a problem with its generators and electrical back-up. 

May 2020 : A video emerges showing a leak in the ship's accommodation area, with water filmed cascading from the ceiling.

October 2020 : An engine room inside the £3.2bn behemoth was flooded after a pipe burst.  A faulty fire system unleashed thousands of gallons of water into a compartment, wrecking electrical systems. It was reported the flood prompted naval top brass to scrap plans for Prince of Wales to sail to America. The flood caused about £3.3 million pounds' worth of damage. 

August 2022 : Shortly after setting sail from Portsmouth, the aircraft carrier suffered a humiliating breakdown. Her 33-tonne starboard propeller had malfunction, with a coupling holding it in place breaking. It meant the vessel had to limp back to Portsmouth and cancel her mission to America.

October 2022 :  The navy had to postpone HMS Prince of Wales's departure to Rosyth for repairs on Monday, October 3 to the evening of Friday, October 7 following a technical issue on board. Details of the problem are not known. 

The two aircraft carriers are seen as a key asset to Nato, with military leaders hoping they would be able to relieve some of the pressure in the USA's over-worked supercarriers.

In 2020 alone, the USA's fleet of 11 nuclear aircraft carriers spent a combined total of 855 days at sea between January and October - almost as many days as Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth combined. 

HMS Prince of Wales had been expected to take centre stage this autumn with a three-month mission to America, where it was anticipated she would see more test flights of the F-35.

However, a defect with her 33-tonne starboard propellor forced Navy bosses to scrap her trip just hours after setting sail from Portsmouth in August. 

The carrier languished about five miles from Shanklin before it then limped back to Stokes Bay at Gosport, Hampshire, travelling at a rate of four knots accompanied by tugs for the return journey to calmer waters.  

Following the technical gaffe, the 65,000-tonne vessel - which is longer than the Houses of Parliament - was left stuck at Portsmouth Naval Base while specialist divers spent a month inspecting the damage caused to her.

The ship eventually left under her own steam last week, travelling north to the dry dock facility at Rosyth, Scotland, where she arrived earlier this week.

A Navy source insisted the Senior Service was determined to fix the 920ft vessel as quickly as possible but admitted her breakdown had come as a 'disappointment' to her 700-strong crew, who had been looking forward to their moment in the spotlight.

'It’s a disappointing defect we have stumbled across.... but we will get back to sea,' the source told MailOnline.  'We need our aircraft carrier to get fixed, she is an amazing capability.'

HMS Queen Elizabeth was scrambled to step in and carry out part of Prince of Wales's mission to New York, with the British flagship staging the Atlantic Future Forum defence event. She returned to Portsmouth on Thursday afternoon.

HMS Prince of Wales's defect has been downplayed by a defence expert. 

Robert Clark, director of defence and security at the think-tank Civitas, told MailOnline: ‘The repairs to HMS Prince of Wales shouldn't pose too many difficulties for the Royal Navy. 

‘Whilst it was unforeseen, these are the largest warships the Royal Navy has ever possessed and will require regular maintenance. It's perfectly normal to spend the majority of their time port-side.’

Running aircraft carriers is an expensive business, with the cost of operating the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers standing at about £96 million a year. 

Costs would balloon further if the ships were used constantly at sea. It is cheaper to keep ships alongside when not needed on operations or exercises at sea.  

HMS Queen Elizabeth was welcomed home to Portsmouth on Thursday afternoon after a month at sea, which saw the 65,000 heading to the west coast of America

Crowds gathered in Southsea as HMS Queen Elizabeth made her way back to Portsmouth Naval Base. Pictured: people watching the arrival of the ship from Old Portsmouth 

The £3.2billion warship is pictured passing the Spinnaker Tower and Gunwharf Quays as she returned to the UK on Thursday

Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, director of Force Generation, who is responsible for making sure Royal Navy ships are ready to deploy, previously explained the fault suffered by HMS Prince of Wales. 

He said: 'Royal Navy divers have inspected the starboard shaft of the ship and the adjacent areas and they have confirmed there is significant damage to the shaft on the propeller and some superficial damage to the rudder but no damage to the rest of the ship.

'Our initial assessment has shown that coupling that joins the final two sections of the shaft has failed.

'This is an extremely unusual fault and we continue to pursue all repair options.' 

A Royal Navy spokesperson told MailOnline: 'HMS Prince of Wales was due to sail to take part in operations off the United States before she moved to Rosyth for repairs to her propeller shaft. 

'When those repairs are complete, she will return to operations as soon as possible, reflecting our commitment to protect the nation and our allies.' 

Speaking during a debate in the House of Lords on Monday, Baroness Goldie insisted the fault with HMS Prince of Wales was not something that engineers believed would befall sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth. 

 She told peers: 'HMS Prince of Wales’s [reported problem] is unfortunate. I understand she has now made it to Rosyth, which is good news, and she will be going into dry dock where we will then be able to explore in more detail what exactly the nature of the fault was. 

'It is not thought to be a class fault. Queen Elizabeth has been inspected and she is continuing to discharge her duties in the US in support of the Atlantic Future Forum.'

HMS Prince of Wales is the second of the Royal Navy's two aircraft carriers. She is pictured attempting to leave from Portsmouth in August before she broke down  

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At 280 metres long, with a lifespan of half a century and a flight deck of four acres, HMS Queen Elizabeth is Britain's largest and most powerful warship ever built.

Here are the facts and figures behind the vessel which was officially commissioned into the Royal Navy December 7, 2017

HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, weighs some 65,000 tonnes and has a top speed of 25 knots and a four-acre flight deck

A disgrace of British marine engineering. How can ...

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