HMS Prince of Wales: Royal Navy crews work round the clock to load supplies onto Britain’s newest carrier as she takes step towards maiden voyage?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

A 21-strong team from the aircraft carrier’s supply department spent two weeks working around the clock to move bandages, pots, pans, camp beds, pipe clamps, hoses, valves and firefighting equipment aboard.

The majority of items were provided by the military depot at Crombie, just three miles up the Forth, to a building at Rosyth Royal Dockyard, where HMS Prince of Wales is being completed.

From there, they were unpacked and repacked into cage storage units – ready for loading onto the Queen Elizabeth-class ship.

A forklift took the supples to the jetty before being loaded to the aircraft lift where a truck moved them to the hangar. They were then moved to the naval stores lift and taken to the correct deck level storeroom.

Lieutenant Commander Alex Pelham Burn, deputy commander logistics, said: ‘In preparation for sailing for the first time, the supply chain department have been busy loading the first outfit of stores on board HMS Prince of Wales.

‘Working 24 hours a day for the past two weeks they have been embarking stores from body armour to ball bearings, firefighting gear to cups and saucers and everything else required to maintain, feed and fight on an aircraft carrier at sea.

‘As we approach our sailing date, we will start embarking the victuals needed to sustain us during sea trials until we get into our new home port of Portsmouth later this year.’