Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth departure date from Portsmouth confirmed

Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth is to stand in for its sister ship HMS Prince of Wales during diplomatic visits and military exercises off the US coast after the HMS Prince of Wales broke down off the Isle of Wight last week.

The £3 billion aircraft carrier is due to sail from the harbour at around 9.30am.

It comes after HMS Prince of Wales encountered a mechanical fault with its starboard shaft shortly after sailing from the city on August 27, resulting in the carrier limping back to the city this Saturday past.

Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, director of Force Generation, who is responsible for making sure Royal Navy ships are ready to deploy, confirmed last Friday that HMS Queen Elizabeth would take on some of HMS Prince of Wales tasks.

He said: ‘The good news is that our other aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will depart Portsmouth...to undertake elements of Prince of Wales’ programme in the United States.

‘She’ll then return to Europe to continue our autumn programme of exercises and operations.

‘As for Prince of Wales, we’ll repair her, get her back on operations protecting the nation and our allies as soon as possible.’