New Royal Navy testing ship arrives in Portsmouth

By Sam Pither

1 August 2022

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A high-tech new ship developed to help the Royal Navy test new technology, kit and concepts has arrived in Portsmouth.

The service has released images of the new 42 metre, 270 tonne vessel, named after former Royal Navy sailor and Nobel Prize winner, Patrick Blackett.

The ship will join the Navy’s NavyX team, allowing them to increase the number of trials carried out at sea to enhance the fleet’s operations and maintain the UK’s leading position in naval warfare.

It will also allow these experiments to be carried out without the need to use other navy ships, many of which are deployed permanently outside UK waters.

Colonel Tom Ryall, head of NavyX, said: ‘The arrival of this vessel is a pivotal moment for NavyX’s ability to deliver output for the Royal Navy.

‘She will give us greater flexibility to experiment with novel military capabilities, and accelerate new technology, kit and concepts to the frontline.’

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Manned by a crew of five, the ship will have a ‘plug and play’ element to support the navy’s new persistently operationally deployed systems concept – or PODs, for short.

This will allow the ship to make adaptations tailored to the individual trials and experiments it is carrying out, including drone and autonomous vehicle testing and AI decision making.

The XV Patrick Blackett was built by Damen Shipyards in the Netherlands and can reach speeds of 20 knots.

It is named after a naval scientist who, after serving in the first world war, became the first person to prove that radioactivity could cause the nuclear transmutation of one chemical element to another.

In 1932 he helped devise a a system of Geiger counters which took photographs only when a cosmic ray particle traversed the chamber, for which he was awarded a Nobel prize in Physics in 1948.

In the second world war, as scientific adviser to Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Pile, Commander in Chief of Anti-Aircraft Command, he began work which resulted in an entire field of study, known as ‘operational research’.

His ideas also led directly to the creation of the Ministry of Technology under Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

By Sam Pither

Sam is the Regional Editor of Biz News, responsible for both Hampshire and Dorset.

A new recruit to journalism, Sam started writing for the Business Magazine as a freelancer in May of 2022 after completing his degree in English at University College London. His passion for local businesses and ability to tell a story soon caught the attention of the publication’s management team and have led to his meteoric rise.

Sam, who lives in central Reading, takes a particular interest in technology, gaming and food and drink, having been a chef before starting his degree.