The 169 acre shipyard at Barrow at Barrow has a proven capability as a ‘world class’ design, fabrication, build, test and commissioning facility for large warships and nuclear powered submarines, with some of Europe’s largest indoor modular shipbuilding facilities, and a workforce of over 5,000 people.

Below, you can see the layout of the shipyard in facilities such as Devonshire Dock Hall and the new assembly shop. The huge Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH) covered shipbuilding hall, shiplift, superberth and a large fitted out ship module of over 2,000 tonnes emerging from its build hall.

 Barrow’s Key Warship Building Capabilities

• Ability to produce ‘the most fantastic ship in terms of value for money at the end of the day we have got an amazing piece of kit'. (Source: First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West KCB DSC House of Commons Defence Committee, March 2004 - on HMS Albion)
• Barrowshipyard has 60% of the UK’s warship design capability. The 600+ designers including 200 professional marine engineers and 400 detailed design specialists representing the foremost concentration of marine design skills in the UK.
• Barrow is the UK’s ‘knowledge centre’ for submarine and large warship design, construction, test and commissioning. The National Audit Office highlighted earlier this year the importance to major defence projects of ensuring that labour skills are retained in order to avoid difficult to overcome technical challenges and hence project delay and cost overruns.More erecently in November 2006 evidence given by Lord Drayson, Defence Procurement Minister and Murray Easton of BAESYSTEMS highlighted the significance of sustaining skills at Barrowby committing to a regular drumbeat of orders.
• Barrow is a fully equipped modern shipyard . There are huge physical facilities available for both surface ship and submarine construction at Barrow which are suitable for forthcoming naval contracts Figure 1 below, lists the facilities available

Figure 1 Barrow assets and suitability for key contracts