Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales set to head to America for F-35 trials

HMS Prince of Wales will be departing from Portsmouth Naval Base at about 12.10pm.

The colossal 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier and her 700-strong crew will be heading to the east coast of the United States of America, following in the footsteps of her bigger sister, HMS Queen Elizabeth.

It's understood the £3.2bn leviathan – which is a Nato command ship – will carry out trials with the F-35 stealth jet, the most advanced warplane ever created, as part of the ‘Westlant’ series of exercises.

The ship is expected to remain at sea for several months, with defence sources telling The News she is anticipated to return to Portsmouth sometime in December.

HMS Prince of Wales is one of the most powerful surface warships ever constructed in the UK.

Her flight deck is 70 metres – 230ft – wide and 280 metres – almost 920ft – long. It is so vast that it has enough space for three football pitches.

The ship returned to Portsmouth in June after completing a Nato mission in which she operated alongside Spain’s aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Cadiz.

The Nato task force – made up of 20 ships from six nations – was assembled to show the alliance’s commitment to the region’s prosperity and security ahead of the Nato Madrid summit in June. As a Nato command ship, HMS Prince of Wales is ready to deploy quickly in response to crises as part of the alliance’s response force.