It’s Britain’s biggest warship (Picture: PA)

The Queen has officially welcomed the UK’s new warship HMS Queen Elizabeth – its biggest ever – into the Royal Navy fleet.

At 280 metres long and with an estimated half a century working life, the £3,100,000,000 behemoth aircraft carrier is the biggest and most powerful warship ever built by the UK.

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Accompanied by the Princess Royal, the Queen arrived on board the ship at Portsmouth Naval Base using a specially installed lift to bring her up to the hangar for the occasion.

Wearing a purple outfit, she was led onboard by the ship’s commanding officer Captain Jerry Kyd.


Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson also attended the commissioning ceremony, to witness the behemoth battleship being welcomed into the fleet.

Queen Elizabeth II sits in the hangar during the commissioning ceremony (Picture: PA)

The Queen attends the commissioning ceremony (Picture: Getty Images)

HMS Queen Elizabeth is the Navy’s biggest and most powerful warship (Picture: PA)

Her Majesty arrived at her namesake ship for the commissioning ceremony (Picture: Getty Images)

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Katherine Jenkins sings alongside the Royal Marine band ahead of the the Commissioning Ceremony of HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base (Picture: Getty Images)

Asked how relevant such a ship is, Williamson said: ‘It is absolutely relevant. HMS Queen Elizabeth will be serving in the Royal Navy for the next 50 years.



‘The final captain of this ship has yet to be born.

‘We have been working, the Navy has been working, the Ministry of Defence has been wroking to get it ready for the last 20 years.

‘This is a very important moment.’

Royal Navy ratings march into the hanger of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

Royal Navy ratings in the hanger of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

The HMS Queen Elizabeth currently has a crew of around 700, but this will go up to 1,600 once the full complement of F-35B jets and Crowsnest helicopters are embarked.

Its flight deck is 280 metres long and 70 metres wide – big enough to fit three football pitches.

Onboard there is a huge a medical centre with a 12-bed ward, staffed with GPs, a nurse and medical assistants. There is also a dentist and a dental nurse.

The First Sea Lord has heralded the arrival of the ‘enormously flexible big grey ship’ at the commissioning ceremony.

There are also five gyms on the warship – including a boxing gym – as well as a chapel.

The ceremony is taking place in Portsmouth (Picture: Getty Images)

The Queen’s colour flag is paraded in the hanger of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

Speaking aboard the ship, Admiral Sir Philip Jones said: ‘We have been on a long complicated, but committed journey to get to this point and commissioning the ship is a key milestone.’

He added: ‘The The point of the big grey ship is it’s enormously big, flexible, capable and adaptable.

‘I think the key thing about the Queen Elizabeth class is the range of aircraft it can carry, fixed and rotary wing and they can be configured for humanitarian disaster relief operations, non-combatant evacuations and if needs be to deploy sovereign air power at the Government’s choosing.’

A lift was specially installed to help the Queen get up to the hangar (Picture: Getty Images)

The most significant part of the ceremony was when the Blue Ensign was pulled down, and the White Ensign was hoisted above the warship -indicating that the ship is now officially on active duty.

This signifies that the ship is officially part of the Royal Navy.

Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Able Seaman Ellie Smith, a 20-year-old sailor from Hull, said she was pleased to have been given the task.

‘This is something to look back on for the rest of our lives and we can say “I was there”, which will be a really good thing to be able to say,’ she said.

Royal Navy ratings Able Seaman Ellie Smith (left) and Able Seaman Jessica Hewes practice raising the Ensign on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

The Blue Ensign is replaced with a White Ensign to signify that the ship is officially part of the Royal Navy (Picture: PA)

HMS Queen Elizabeth IN NUMBERS Ordered: May 2008 Christened: 4 July 2014 in a ceremony by Queen Elizabeth II Commissioned: 7 December 2017 In service: 2020 (planned) Home port: Portsmouth Cost: £3.1bn Length: 280m (920ft) Propulsion: 2 x Rolls-Royce Marine gas turbine alternators and four diesel engines Range: 10,000 nautical miles Capacity: 1,600 Troops: 250 Sensors and processing system: S1850m long range radar. Ultra Electronics Series 2500 Electro Optical System (EOS) Armament: 3 x Phalanx CIWS, 4 x 30mm calibre gun, various Miniguns and GPMGs to counter asymmetric threats. Aircraft carried: Up to 40 Planned Carrier Air Wing of up to 40 aircraft F-35B Lightning II Chinook Apache AH64 Merlin HM2 and HC4 Wildcat AH1 and HMA2 Merlin Crowsnest AEW Aviation facilities: Hangar below deck Two aircraft lifts Ski jump

Afterwards, the youngest crew member serving on HMS Queen Elizabeth will cut a cake. This honour falls to Steward Callum Hui from Lynton in Devon.



Hui, 17, signed up to the Royal Navy soon after finishing school. He started his basic training in March, passed out in June, and then joined the ship in October.

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‘I am excited to say the least,’ he said. ‘This is my first ship, straight out of training, and just to have the honour of cutting the cake on commissioning day… It is exciting stuff.’

The cake itself has been created by Scottish company 3D Cakes, and took more than 100 hours to make.

It’s a massive edible replica of a ship, which weighs around 150kg and required more than 7kg of flour and 160 eggs to make.

The cake is a huge edible replica of the battleship (Picture: Getty Images)

Just like the ship itself, the cake is huge (Picture: PA)

A cake, made by Warrant Officer Jon Boreham, depicting the Queen at the commissioning ceremony of the Britain’s biggest and most powerful warship HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

It’s very detailed (Picture: PA)

Royal Navy ratings practice in the hanger of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

Hui will be joined in the cake-cutting by the wife of the commanding officer Captain Kyd.

Speaking before the ceremony, Captain Kyd described the day as a ‘major milestone’.

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‘Building aircraft carriers is not for the fainthearted,’ he said. ‘There are very few countries who can do this around the world.

‘So we should look at our British industry, our designers, all the skills, all the production companies around the country, the shipyards from Devon through to Fife, to the Royal Navy, who have come together to make this happen.

‘We should be really proud as a country. This has been a national endeavour. It has just been fantastic – it is really a culmination of all our hard work.’

Commanding officer Captain Jerry Kyd said the ceremony was a ‘major milestone’ (Picture: Getty Images)

Royal Navy ratings practice in the hanger of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

Members of the ship’s company take part in a technical rehearsal in the hanger (Picture: Getty Images)

The aircraft carrier will now be the nation’s flagship. It can be pressed into action for various tasks, such as high-intensity war fighting, or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.


It will also serve as a floating military base for the F-35B stealth fighter jets, which will launch from the deck of the vessel to undertake missions.

Captain Kyd added that hosting the Queen and having her step on board the ship for the ceremony was a ‘complete honour’.

Petty Officer Dean Allen, the chef in charge of cooking the royal lunch agreed, saying that making food for the Queen is an experience that cannot be beaten.

Petty Officer Dean Allen in the galley of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: PA)

After the ceremony, the Queen will enjoy a three course lunch (Picture: PA)

After the ceremony, Her Majesty will enjoy a three-course lunch on board the ship.

‘I don’t think you can go bigger than feeding the Queen… It’s the biggest catering moment of my career,’ the 37-year-old said.

‘The chefs are buzzing – they can’t wait. They have been looking forward to [today] for a long time – the commissioning, and feeding the Queen.’

Apparently the Queen is having a salmon tian for a starter, a double rib of British lamb with a bean cassoulet for main course, and a burnt blood orange tart with poached meringue for dessert.