The aircraft carrier at the centre of a moving South Tyneside story - in the freezing cold

It took three days to painstakingly move a cross-section of the Queen Elizabeth just 100 yards at A&P Tyne’s ship repair yard in Hebburn.

Moving in minus-9 temperatures

And just to make matters worse, the temperatures plummeted in the week of the big move in December 2010.

A huge module was being shifted from A&P's fabrication hall to the paint cell.

Ten A&P staff worked in record-breaking cold weather to transfer the two rings which formed a cross section of the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier.

A snowplough cleared the area

The two steel rings combined weighed 362 tonnes and measured more than 130ft wide, 49ft long and 29ft deep.

A&P project director, Darren Brown, said at the time that the whole operation was well planned in freezing conditions.

"It was freezing cold – minus 9 degrees and it felt even colder. But the weather didn't deter us. We had a snowplough in to clear the area and we had it well-gritted.

‘It has to proceed slowly, literally inch by inch’

“It's a very complicated procedure and it has to proceed slowly, literally inch by inch."

Helped by a Teesside team from heavy lifting specialists ALE, the most time-consuming part of the move was jacking up the huge steel rings and sliding them along skid tracks to the front of the fabrication hall where the specialist trailers positioned themselves underneath and used hydraulic lifts to rise up and meet them.

A&P won a £55m order to build sections for the new QE Class aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

Work was secured for years

The carrier rings were being painted before being transported to the yard's new West Quay where they would be fitted out with piping, ventilation and electric cabling.

The MoD contract secured work for the yard's 210 employees for several years.

Tell us if you remember the giant on the move. Email [email protected]