Royal Navy: HMS Queen Elizabeth sails under Forth bridge and leaves Rosyth as she heads to North Sea

HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed under the Forth Bridge in Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, earlier this morning. It was confirmed that repairs to fix a mechanical fault which broke the carrier’s starboard propeller were completed last week, with crucial upgrades also being made to the vessel.

A Royal Navy spokesperson previously said: “HMS Queen Elizabeth has completed her defect repair work and capability upgrades at Rosyth and will now undergo a period of sea trials to prepare for future tasking.”

According to the Marine Vessel Traffic live tracker, the 65,000 tonne carrier is sailing into the open sea. Temporary flight restrictions were implemented at the request of Police Scotland, which apply to unmanned craft. Measures were approved by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Secretary of State for Transport “due to the high-profile status of this event” - being deemed necessary for national defence and security.

It is yet to be confirmed what the future holds for HMS Queen Elizabeth, after being removed from frontline operations in February. She was due to take charge of a UK Carrier Strike Group during Exercise Steadfast Defender - Nato’s largest operation since The Cold War - but those plans were shelved after a fault was found during pre-sailing checks on February 4.

Her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, replaced her. The coupling on the starboard propeller of HMS Queen Elizabeth had misaligned, with the Royal Navy previously stating that this was caused by “wear and tear”. The Earl of Minto said earlier this year that an investigation would be launched. Propeller shaft couplings have plastic covers to keep water away, with the cover on the starboard shaft moving, which allowed seawater to cause corrosion.

It was reported that a decision was made to replace both propeller shafts, in a similar way to HMS Prince of Wales following her breakdown in 2022.