It is reported that steelworkers at Corus will make about 80,000 tonnes of steel for the sheer scale of 2 Royal Navy aircraft carriers to be built with Scunthorpe steel. The ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are set to enter service by about 2018. Each of the 65,000 tonne carriers will have 9 decks and will be almost 60 meters tall.

With 2 Rolls Royce MT30 gas turbines and 4 diesel generator sets producing 109MW, each ship could keep the lights on in Scunthorpe twice over. The ships were delayed for up to 2 years by defense secretary Mr John Hutton in December 2008, and there are constant budgetary concerns on the GBP 3.9 billion scheme.

Dr Lee Willett head of the maritime studies program at the Royal United Services Institute said that the carriers were important to project Britain's power abroad. He added that "All the major navies in the world are now building them. We are an island nation and we have global interests, so we need these four acres of moveable sovereign airfield that we can deploy wherever we want, whenever we need them. Carriers have proved their value in humanitarian and relief operations as well as in combat roles, and they remain a very flexible political and military asset."

(Sourced from www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk)