How to Build an Aircraft Carrier cover art

How to Build an Aircraft Carrier

The Incredible Story of the Men and Women Who Brought Britain’s Biggest Warship to Life

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How to Build an Aircraft Carrier

By: Chris Terrill
Narrated by: Adam James
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Hear the enthralling story of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy's largest ever warship.

Sixty-five thousand tons, 280 metres long. A flight deck the size of 60 tennis courts. A giant piece of Sovereign British territory that's home to up to 50 aircraft. HMS Queen Elizabeth in the biggest ship in the Royal Navy's history and one of the most ambitious and exacting engineering projects ever undertaken in the UK.

But it's her ship's company of 700, alongside an air group of 900 air and ground crew, that are Big Lizzie's beating heart. And How to Build an Aircraft Carrier tells their story.

From before the first steel of her hull was cut, Chris Terrill has enjoyed unprecedented access to the Queen Elizabeth and the men and women who have brought her to life. From Jerry Kyd, the ship's inspirational captain, to Cdr Nathan Gray, the first pilot to land Britain's new stealth jet fighter on her deck, Terrill has won the trust and confidence of the ship's people.

How to Build an Aircraft Carrier tells the story of Britain at her best: innovative, confident, outward-looking and world-beating.

©2022 Chris Terrill (P)2022 Penguin Audio Armed Forces Engineering Military Naval Forces Transportation Royalty Royal Navy Thought-Provoking Inspiring England

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All stars
Most relevant  
Good book. I'm not sure that the matelots would have said some of the things they did...unless they were throbbers that is. I served under the new Skipper that joined in New York during one of his previous drafts as a Jimmy. I'm glad he got the sack from QE as he was the worst Officer I ever worked for. He single handedly destroyed a whole Ship's company worth of morale and everyone hated him. It seems like he didn't change as a Captain. He made our lives a misery so I just thought I'd mention that in my review.

I giggled when the Bish was described as looking like Batman. Whilst on Divisions at Sultan, the Bish was walking down to the Dias all in black with a cloak on, and it was windy and the cloak was blowing all over the place. Someone on Divisions said loudly enough for loads of us to here, 'It's Batman'. About 200 Matelots were stood at Attention shaking like sh*tting dogs trying not to laugh. Amazing moment that this book reminded me of.

Interesting. Very Interesting.

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Interesting insight into the life and times aboard a state of the art Warship. Warts and all

Good narrative

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was hugely entertaining and informative and gives a great insight into life at sea on a new ship.
The narrator did a great job also - his voice was clear and fluent. The only negative point for me however was his attempt at accents. Most were ok but there were a couple of real howlers in particular his attempt at a scottish accent which, quite frankly, was horrible. Imagine Scotty from the original Star Trek series only much much worse. If you can’t do an accent reasonably well then don’t do it all would be my advice.
Otherwise this is an excellent listen and well worth diving into.

Great story

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really enjoyed the valued insight into how industry and the Royal Navy came together to create and build up thiss impressive ship.

very enjoyable insight into the Navy

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As others have advised the name of the book doesn’t really match the book, I’m glad as this was so much better. If you want to read about Royal Navy life and life aboard a ship it’s a good read.

Interesting, well written and entertaining

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I have an interest in everything naval, historic and present day and especially British. So it was a pleasant surprise to download this book expecting a technical blow by blow account of how HMS Queen Elizabeth was put together and how she works. This book is not at all like that. It reads/sounds like a story book complete with its own character's and their eccentricities, all with names and different voices and accents mimicked or made up by the narrator. Very believable stuff just like a story of fiction that isn't. That's where the audio book works best. But I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of it was also available via the 'recent BBC series which I was also avidly glued to. There is also a hint at the end that there is more Big Lizzie adventures to come and I for one can't wait. Top marks.

very proud indeed

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Great listening. Adam James has a remarkable range of voices from Irish brogue and Cockney rhyming slang to Liverpudlian drawl and a fine Caribbean lilt. Surprised how funny this book is too as well as very moving in places.

Rattling Good Yarn

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Solid book that gives a great mix of technical detail, human insight and story across a wide range of topics

Interesting, relevant and detailed.

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First off ... Wow! Some might consider that to be an over reaction to a book with a somewhat dry title. however, this book is not about the nuts and bolts of building Britain's biggest warship, rather it's about the people that make this machine work, and what people they are!

I had no idea that this book is really the perfect companion to the three part BBC documentary series available on YouTube called "Britain's Biggest Warship." If anyone has seen that fascinating insight into life aboard the UK's new aircraft carrier, then this book is an absolute must. Not only does it cover the events shown in the documentary, but it also goes farther back and a little farther forward. There is a bit more detail here, some of the things in the section of the book depicted in the documentary series-are expanded upon here and there and really round out and answer some of the lingering questions people that watched the documentary had.

I hugely enjoyed this book and I have to admit to it giving me real pangs of regret that circumstances in my life meant I was unable to avail myself of the opportunity to enter Royal navy life. As a young boy, I harboured aspirations of joining the navy as a submariner. Alas, this was not possible because of a visual impairment that has now left me all but blind, but listening to this book has really made me feel part of the amazing crew of this great ship. Chris Terril has done an absolutely brilliant job here, bringing the listener aboard the Queen Elizabeth and introducing us to a multitude of interesting and diverse characters that, by the end of the book, we really felt we got to know and feel a connection with. I really hope the author writes a second book about the men and women on the Queen Elizabeth during its South China sea operational deployment. His afterword mentions he is on the ship during that deployment, so I fervently hope we are treated to more of his superb writing and get reacquainted with some familiar characters and meet new ones. I would love to learn what many of the characters are doing now if not still aboard the Queen Elizabeth.

As someone with a keen interest in naval history, I have to say that the UK could do with a third one of these fine ships, perhaps even a fourth as the world we now find ourselves in has become as dangerous as the captain, Jerry kid, rather prophetically predicted could occur. If we ever get a third ship of this class, then I'd hope it would be called Ark Royal. If we ever got a fourth, then it should be named Furious. Both these names have real history behind them. I'm hoping that now we find ourselves embroiled in the brutal Ukraine war with Russia that the politicians, so often the ones cutting military spending, reverse their short sighted and naive policies and rebuild our navy.

Narration by Adam James was perfect! I'd not come across this narrator before, but he did a fantastic job and was able to reproduce many accents as well as female voices.

I laughed and even welled up in places when listening to this superb book. I really became immersed into the story and felt I had been on a real journey, which to me is the mark of an excellent writer. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

What a Journey

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Brought back memories of my time on board HMS Hermes, totally gripping and really exciting.

Hermes revisited.

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