Royal Navy carrier HMS Prince of Wales is returning home to Portsmouth after exercises

The 65,000 tonne leviathan Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier departed from the dockyard on January 12.

This was to complete a three week warm-up exercise, before her first mission since the £3.2bn vessel entered the naval service.

HMS Prince of Wales has recently been made a Nato flagship.

She will be leading the alliance’s front-line maritime task force in the Arctic, Baltic and Mediterranean over the next year.

The vessel and her crew are currently working with Fleet Air Arm and RAF aviators to prepare for future operations.

HMS Prince of Wales is due to be back in Portsmouth at about 1.45pm on Friday, February 4.

The Royal Navy said she will be preparing for her ‘debut in the high north’ while docked in her home port.

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Recently, the aircraft carrier has been 'on standby to be deployed' in light of the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, according to reports.

Britain’s biggest warship also wrote her names in the history recently.

Last week, she completed a record 1,000th aircraft landing, as a large Chinook helicopter, from the RAF’s 27 Squadron, was guided onto the carrier’s deck.

The touchdown came two and a half years since the first landing.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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