Royal Navy carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth's departure from Portsmouth has been delayed

The aircraft carrier arrived back at the naval base on Sunday to collects supplies for F-35B fighter jet trials.

Queen Elizabeth was due to depart from the city at 11.45am today to resume her latest round of training.

However this has now been postponed, with the departure being removed from the QHM Portsmouth shipping movements for Wednesday.

The 65,000-tonne warship is expected to have a huge complement of 1,700 sailors and airmen embarked on board when she departs the city.

Queen Elizabeth’s latest training will see about a dozen British and American F-35 stealth jets joining her at sea.

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The jet trials are the final hurdle both ship and crew need to overcome before being given the green light for operational missions.

Its focus will be on Queen Elizabeth’s ability to work as a flagship of a major carrier strike group – similar in size to the one she will eventually deploy with.

The warship is due to be deployed on her first operational mission in 2021.

Queen Elizabeth is one of two new aircraft carriers for the navy, the largest British warships ever built.

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