Royal Navy: HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves Portsmouth as "proud" families watch loved ones sail from city

HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed past The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth at roughly 1.30pm this afternoon (November 4). Crowds gathered along The Hot Walls to see her depart for the training exercises.

She is expected to be away from her home port for roughly four weeks. It was an especially memorable day for Sarah Ling, from Lee-on-the-Solent, as she watched her step-daughter Chloe Pink be deployed on her first set of exercises.

Joined by Edward Pink, aged four, and Chloe’s uncle Ashley Caisley, aged 32, the trio waved to her on the Hot Walls as the huge carrier sailed past. Ms Ling said Chloe was able to see them as the ship travelled past. She told The News that she was immensely proud of her step-daughter for choosing her path in the Royal Navy.

Visibly emotional, she added: “I’m really excited for her. She’s really pleased to be going out for the first time. I think she’ll be quite nervous, but she’s been out and done some sea trials on HMS Queen Elizabeth before. I don’t think she’ll be as nervous as she would have been without those trials.”

Ms Ling said Chloe applied to become an officer after getting her degree at the University of Reading after joining the group of reserves URNU. “She signed up, did all her training and has really thrived,” Ms Ling added. “She had some moments which were harder than others, but she battled through. She’s grown so much in confidence through all of her training.”

HMS Queen Elizabeth is back on sea trials and routine training exercises after returning to Portsmouth on Friday (November 2). The £3.2bn flagship spent Halloween working alongside HMS St Albans during Fleet Operational Standards and Training (FOST) drills. The crew were put through their paces on simulated warfighting exercises, as well as aviation tests.

A few days before, the carrier welcomed aboard groups of engineers, logisticians and other personnel aboard the flight deck to see air operations up closes. The ship’s social media account said this gave them the opportunity to take some photos for their families to show what life aboard an aircraft carrier was all about.