Britain to end shipbuilding at historic Portsmouth yard

LONDON — Britain is set to call time on hundreds of years of shipbuilding at a yard in Portsmouth after defense contractor BAE Systems said it will cut 1,775 jobs from three of its shipbuilders in the United Kingdom.

Following an 18-month review, BAE said in a statement Wednesday that it plans to eliminate shipbuilding in the port city as well as at two locations in Scotland once work is completed on two aircraft carriers in 2015.

Portsmouth will remain open for boat repairs and maintenance work.

"The loss of such a significant number of jobs is, of course, regrettable, but it was always going to be inevitable," Britain's Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told the House of Commons Wednesday. "I know that the loss of shipbuilding capability will be a harsh blow to Portsmouth."

Without its own shipyard, England may be dependent on Scotland or elsewhere to build warships, and amid discussion about a 2014 Scottish referendum for independence, the Portsmouth changes are being viewed some as carrying political motivation.

Critics charge Scottish shipyards got preferential treatment at the expense of the English one to prevent independence leader Alex Salmond from arguing that Scotland was punished for seeking independence.

Ships have been built in Portsmouth since Britain first became a naval power.

"We're an island nation," Gerald Vernon-Jackson, a local government leader, told the BBC Wednesday. "We depend on sea trade for the food we eat, for the fuel in our cars, for the gas in our central heating systems, and the Royal Navy has never bought ships from abroad."

Contributing: Associated Press