HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived in New York this afternoon, marking the start of an historic visit to the US city.

The largest ship in the history of the Royal Navy has anchored in New York Harbour under the gaze of the Statue of Liberty today.

Welcoming the aircraft carrier into New York, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

“HMS Queen Elizabeth is not just a warship, but a symbol of our enduring commitment to our security, and the security of our allies too.

This state-of-the-art ship is built on more than 470 years of proud Royal Navy history and her entry into New York harbour shows that our Armed Forces are ready to stand by our allies for generations to come.”

Captain Jerry Kyd, Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth added:

“I am delighted and proud to be bringing HMS Queen Elizabeth into New York harbour for the first time. This visit is very symbolic of the intimate relationship the Royal Navy has with the US Navy and Marine Corps and comes at the mid-way point in the F-35B fixed wing flight trials.

We have over 170 embarked US staff at the moment onboard in support of the flight trials, including a USMC test pilot and we are all extremely pleased with our progress so far.”

The warship, which has been undertaking F-35B flight trials while at sea off the coast of the US, is set to remain in New York for about a week before she returns to the North Atlantic to continue testing the supersonic stealth fighter jets.