The Queen has flown on board the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth to wish the crew well as they make final preparations to depart on the carrier’s first operational deployment.
The £3 billion warship, carrying eight RAF F35B stealth fighter jets, will depart later on Saturday for Asia accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters, a company of Royal Marines.
The Queen was welcomed on board at Portsmouth Naval Base by the ship’s commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG).
She was given a briefing on the 28-week deployment which will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.
Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail after royal visit
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Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail after royal visit
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