Royal Navy names HMS Prince of Wales as new flagship for the first time taking helm of HMS Queen Elizabeth

She has taken over from her sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, ahead of her visit to Liverpool next month. Both Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers regularly rotate the flagship title between them, with one ready to deploy at short notice for priority tasking and the other in routine maintenance.

This is the first time HMS Prince of Wales has been given the honour in her five year career, with the 65,000 tonne warship preparing to take charge of the UK Carrier Strike Group in the Indo-Pacific region in 2025. There is no formal ceremony to mark the changing of responsibilities, but the two carriers did briefly meet up recently as they sailed in waters close to the UK.

HMS Prince of Wales will take on the role at 10am on December 2. Commanding Officer of HMS Prince of Wales, Captain Will Blackett, said: “This is a proud moment for HMS Prince of Wales. We’ve been training hard, ably assisted by our sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth. We’re ready, we’re excited, and look forward to taking the next step in the ship’s life.”

HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Commanding Officer, Captain Will King, added: “Every Sailor in HMS Queen Elizabeth knows the pride that comes from serving in the RN Flagship. I wish HMS Prince of Wales every success taking on the title – they will do a fantastic job. As her sister-ship we stand ready to support her in every way.”

HMS Prince of Wales visited Glen Mallen, Scotland, this week to take on more ammunition and is now heading to affiliated city Liverpool for a seven-day visit. Members of the ship’s company - totalling 800 - will be carrying out projects with local schools, community projects and civic leaders; showing them what life aboard the Portsmouth-based carrier is like.

The £3.2bn warship remains ready throughout this phase for operational tasking if required, while HMS Queen Elizabeth will spend the majority of November at sea conducting essential training before a port stop in Hamburg – which follows the recent Trinity House Defence agreement between the UK and Germany.