Involving the entire shipbuilding production line at South Australia’s Osborne Naval Shipyard, this achievement is the accumulation of many firsts for the program and is a big shift forward.
Ship Manager Mitch said the prototyping phase, early fabrication and construction phase set the teams up to reach this milestone.
“Building a first of class frigate is highly complex, and the Hunter teams have done an amazing job creating the processes, systems and foundation needed to deliver the first three ships. This represents the full value stream across business, engineering, supply chain and operations.”
Mitch, Ship Manager
The two steel units UB31T and UB21T now make up part of hull Block 3 in Ship 1’s keel. This area will house auxiliary machinery, plumbing systems and cold storage facilities for perishables. It will also include an elevator for crewmembers to move food and equipment between the galley and mess hall on the upper decks.
Ship 1’s Block 3 begins to take shape
Ship 1’s Block 3 begins to take shape
Forming part of the vessel’s backbone, Block 3 will be put under tremendous stresses from engine vibrations and the ocean itself over the many decades of Ship 1’s service lifetime. This makes the welding process an integral part of structural integrity and a key component in the early stages of construction.
Constructed upside down — a standard for shipbuilding around the world to make the large sections of hull easier to work with — UB31T and UB21T were fused together with MIG welding torches. This robust technique is incredibly strong but can also cause the product to slightly distort or shrink.
During the prototyping phase, the wider team refined every aspect of the process to optimise the build. The prototyping unit’s distortion and shrinkage rates were accurately measured and this information was fed back into the build process. The results are keel units constructed to world-class standards.
“The process change is difficult to execute on highly complex keel units, with structures undergoing intense welding. To get it so accurate was an amazing feat and a testament to the Dimensional Control, Production, Manufacturing Engineering and Structural Engineering teams’ phenomenal effort. It’s been the build methodology for Hunter ever since,” Mitch said.
Each of the six Hunter class frigates will be made up of 22 hull blocks that, in turn, will be comprised of between one and seven consolidated steel units.
When in service, the Hunters will be among the world’s most elite anti-submarine warships.