Royal Navy: HMS Queen Elizabeth's return to Portsmouth delayed after Germany visit and drone incident

HMS Queen Elizabeth was due to be sailing back to HMNB Portsmouth tomorrow morning (November 28). According to the King’s Harbour Master shipping movements, the 65,000 tonne carrier was due to reach the Outer Spit Buoy at 8.45am, proceeding to the Victory Jetty at 9.35am.

However this has now been removed from the shipping movements list - signalling a delay in her return home.

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It comes after the £3.2bn warship spent a week in Hamburg, Germany - hosting high-ranking officials shortly after a major diplomatic security deal was signed between the European nation and the UK.

The UK-Germany Trinity House Agreement is a sign of the Government’s attempts to forge closer relations with European allies, with prime minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to renew relations with the European Union’s key players. A wider treaty is due to be signed next year, with the Nato allies working together on developing long-range strike weapons that can travel further than the UK’s existing Storm Shadow missiles. The UK and Germany will also collaborate on developing new land-based and aerial drones.

Commanding Officer Captain Will King previously said: “As you would expect during a visit to one of our closest NATO allies there is a busy programme of defence engagement, but everyone on the ship will get a chance to explore the city whose proud maritime heritage is very similar to our home in Portsmouth. We have a number of sporting fixtures planned and I have no doubt the stay will be a really memorable one.”

The carrier’s visit to Hamburg was not without incident. German tabloid Bild reported that a drone was seen to be following her as she left the port. An unidentified 1.5-by-1.5metre aircraft shadowed the carrier at the port’s entrance last Friday (November 22). The publication said German military tried to target the drone with HP-47 jammers before it flew away. This comes after more small un-crewed aircraft were seen flying over American Air bases in Britain.