Royal Navy sailors on HMS Queen Elizabeth pull together for 'sports day' ahead of maiden mission

Men and women from the £3.1bn aircraft carrier banded together to take part in a raft of physical activities at the navy’s sporting hub, HMS Temeraire in Portsmouth.

The event was staged by fitness gurus from NAVYfit and was designed to show the importance of sport and fitness to health and well-being.

It comes as the nation continues to struggle through the second lockdown, with gyms and leisure centres now forced to close.

The afternoon event was supported by professional coaches and included angling, boxing, cricket, football, golf, hockey, netball, rugby league, rugby union and squash.

Captain Angus Essenhigh, commanding officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth, said the day had been ‘extremely positive’.

‘HMS Queen Elizabeth was delighted to be offered the opportunity to participate in this grassroots event and take advantage of the excellent coaching on offer,’ he added.

Event lead Glen Young added: ‘It’s great to see the morale and team ethos amongst HMS Queen Elizabeth’s ship’s company.

‘I am hugely appreciative of the efforts everyone has made to achieve the reintroduction of safe sport and comply with the strict government guidance in place to combat Covid-19.’

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HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy.

She is set to deploy on her maiden operational mission in spring, next year.

The deployment will see the 65,000-tonne warship sailing the globe.

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