 The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) declared that the UK needed only one aircraft carrier; however, penalty clauses in the contract meant that cancelling the second vessel would be more expensive than actually building it. The SDSR, therefore, directed that the second aircraft carrier, Prince of Wales, should be built but upon completion be either mothballed or sold. The SDSR also directed that the ship be converted to a CATOBAR configuration; however, the costs associated with the conversion escalated to £ 2bn, leading the government to reverse its decision and build the ship to the original STOVL configuration. On 26 May 2011, Defence Secretary Liam Fox cut the first steel for Prince of Wales. The Royal Navy's 2012 / 13 yearbook stated "both carriers are likely to be commissioned and may even be capable of operating together". In 2014, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that Prince of Wales would be brought into service.
