HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy’s flagship vessel, is returning to its home port today after undergoing repairs in Rosyth, Fife, Scotland. The aircraft carrier, amongst the most impressive of the Royal Navy’s fleet, had been having necessary repairs to fix a ‘propeller shaft misalignment fault’ on her starboard side, according to Portsmouth News.
The public will be able to spot the £3.2 billion vessel as it returns to the south coast today, July 30. Before docking in Portsmouth harbour, the aircraft carrier will perform a sail past of the Isle of Wight, exchanging gun salutes with the Royal Yacht Squadron as the iconic Cowes Week regatta – for which HMS Tyne is guardship – continues in the Solent.
Members of the public hoping to catch a lucky glimpse of HMS Queen Elizabeth will be able to do so from Bembridge, Isle of Wight, from around 4:30pm today. The aircraft carrier will later travel towards the Victory Jetty, Portsmouth, viewable from The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth from approximately 8:05pm.
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Captain Will King, Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth, expressed: “Whilst no warship wants to find itself spending unscheduled time out of the water, I am enormously proud of the work that has gone on in Rosyth. Everybody on board is looking forward to getting back to sea, where we belong, and picking up a busy programme in the autumn.”
In addition to testing her systems, the ship has also been conducting a wide variety of training from boat drills to damage control exercises and intelligence briefings.
Commander Alex Davies, head of the marine engineering department, stated: “An enormous amount of work has taken place over the last few months to get us to this point. This is at the larger end of the scale for Royal Navy Marine Engineering, and it has taken a really effective team effort from our own engineers, Defence Equipment and Support, and our Industry Partners to return us to sea.”
HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest and most powerful vessel ever built for the Royal Navy, is capable of carrying up to 40 aircraft. In addition to its cutting-edge weaponry and communication systems, HMS Queen Elizabeth is equipped with five gyms, a chapel, and a medical centre for staff.
The enormous four-acre flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth will be used to launch the formidable new F35 Joint Strike Fighter fast jet. In just one minute, four fighter jets can be transported from the hangar to the flight deck. Each of the ship’s two propellers weighs 33 tonnes, and the powerplant that drives them generates enough energy to power 1,000 family cars.
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