Sports day for crew of Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth as she sails in the Mediterranean

Crew on the warship took part in a weekend of sports on board the mighty 65,000-tonne vessel.

Queen Elizabeth is the largest and most powerful breed of ship ever built for the Royal Navy.

Able to carry up to 72 aircraft – including F-35B stealth jets – the enormous warship can travel 500 miles a day at sea.

Currently in the Mediterranean on deployment, some of the ship’s 1,700 embarked personnel transformed the vessel’s 920ft-long, 230ft-wide flight deck into a sports ground.

Personnel took part in everything from cricket and football, to volleyball, netball and judo as part of the ‘grassroots sports day’.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is on maiden deployment, Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG 21) and spearheading the strongest naval fleet in Europe.

Ahead of the mission, the Queen was welcomed on board the naval flagship before the carrier headed to the Indo-Pacific region.

The vessel is expected to remain at sea for 28 weeks, carrying out some 40 visits along the way.

Embarked on board include 18 F-35 stealth jets – eight from the RAF and 10 from the US Marine Corps.

The advanced warplanes have been earmarked to carry out bombing runs against terrorist in Syria and Iraq in the coming weeks.

They will also be used to protect withdrawing coalition troops from Afghanistan next month.

The aircraft carrier is due to return to Portsmouth in the winter, having completed her 26,000-mile voyage.

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