Maritime Propulsion

U.K. Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived at her home port of Portsmouth last week, fitted with two Dellner Brakes ‘stopping, turning, locking’ (STL) systems that, weighing in at 11,000 kg each, are the biggest STL systems that Dellner Brakes has ever built.

 

Each of the carrier’s two propeller shafts is fitted with a custom-designed Dellner Brakes STL system that allows operators to stop, hold and securely lock each shaft independently, and to individually turn the shafts and giant 33 tonne propellers for maintenance and blade assembly. The STL system is operated from a push button control panel that integrates fully with other on-board systems.

 

Dellner Brakes CEO, Marcus Aberg, said, “Dellner Brakes has been working with Rolls-Royce to supply braking systems to the U.K. Royal Navy for over a decade.”

He noted Dellner's STL systems are fitted on HMS Queen Elizabeth, as well as her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales.

 

“At 280 metres long and weighing 65,000 [metric tons], the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers are not only the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever built for the Royal Navy, they are also the most technologically advanced,” Aberg said.

 

Each Dellner STL system comprises a ø 2.3m brake disc, three SKD 4x125 hydraulic disc brakes delivering a total braking torque of 800 kNm and three LM70 hydraulic locking mechanisms delivering a total locking torque of 1,660 kNm. The systems have been custom designed and approved according to Lloyds Register Rules & Regulations for Naval Ships.