The Royal Navy’s largest ever aircraft carrier left its home port for the first time on Monday.
The open sea calls… @HMSQNLZ has just passed beneath the three Forth bridges on her first day at sea. #QNLZatsea https://t.co/rgh8OvylyP pic.twitter.com/vQlTSFKRpv
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) June 27, 2017
The HMS Queen Elizabeth – is the first of two new carriers (built at Rosyth dockyard in Fife) to set sail and begin sea trials.
The ship passed under the Forth Bridge just before midnight.
The 65,000 tonne warship is the largest ship ever built for the Royal Navy and her flight deck alone is the size of three football pitches.
I think there are very few capabilities, by any country, that are as symbolic as a carrier strike capability [..] Submarines you can’t see, but these are very visible symbols of power and power projectionCommanding Officer Captain Jerry Kydd
When she enters service she will operate with a crew of 1,000 and 40 aircraft.
The crafts most difficult challenge yet was leaving the docks. There was only 50cm between the bottom of the ship and the seabed when she exited the port.
How to move a 65,000 tonne warship… #QNLZatSea pic.twitter.com/F6WHbTcF9S
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) June 26, 2017
The Stats
- Cost Both the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales cost more than £6 billion.
- Weight The HMS Queen Elizabeth weighs in at an impressive 65,000 tonnes
- Speed The HMS Queen Elizabeth top speed is 25 knots
- Size The flight deck is 280m long and 70m wide (three football pitches)
- The Name She is the second in the Royal Navy craft to be named Queen Elizabeth
- Crew The ship will have initially have a compliment of 700, but that will increase to 1,600 when a full complement of F-35B jets and Crowsnest helicopters are loaded on board
- Pipes The ship has a network of over 36,400km of pipes
- Food Both ships will store over 45 days worth of food for their crews and crew all be served a meal within one and half hours
How the HMS Queen Elizabeth compares to the rest of world’s aircraft carriers
The UK sees it as crucial to own and operate its own aircraft carriers. Globally, most carriers are owned by America.
More Images of the HMS Queen Elizabeth
If you want to visually explore the ship – why not take a deep dive into the QEClass Flickr account.
