HMS Queen Elizabeth set to sail from Portsmouth after two-day delay following crew Covid-19 infection

The 65,000-tonne behemoth had meant to set sail on Monday afternoon for her latest stint of training at sea.

However, the £3.1bn vessel’s voyage was postponed at the 11th-hour after a ‘small number’ of the ship’s company tested positive for Covid-19.

The infected sailors were removed from the ship and placed into self-isolation on land, while any other crew who had been in contact with them were quarantined.

The News understands the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Angus Essenhigh, has now given the go-ahead for the ship to sail from Portsmouth.

A source within the Royal Navy confirmed the mighty carrier, and much of her 1,000-strong crew, would leave Portsmouth Naval Base’s Victory Jetty at 4.45pm.

It’s understood the massive warship will conduct a series of training exercises at sea for a few days before returning to her home city next week, when she will pick up supplies for her next venture out.

HMS Queen Elizabeth will then set sail and join a multi-national task group where she will carry out the final phase of her trials before she deploys next year on her first operational mission.

SEE ALSO: Navy's oldest sea-going warship 'days away' from return to Portsmouth after three years in the Gulf

The training will see about a dozen F-35B stealth jets from the US and UK embarking on the warship – the largest number of warplanes on a British aircraft carrier for more than a decade.

She will carry out a series of complex drills, working with a carrier strike group, to prove she is ready to operate as a flagship of her own task force.

The warship, which is one of two aircraft carriers built for the Royal Navy, is due deploy on her maiden operational mission in early 2021.

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