The UK's largest naval warship was pictured arriving in Scotland today.
Britain's flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth made a striking sight as she sailed into the Firth of Clyde for only the second time since her launch in July 2014.
The giant, 65,000-tonne carrier was last seen on the Clyde in March last year when she sailed to Loch Long to be loaded with ammunition ahead of her successful deployment with the Carrier Strike Group.
She's returned to the loch today, where she will berth at Glen Mallan ammunitioning jetty, which was upgraded to accommodate the huge warship last year at a cost of £67m.
Speaking about her arrival, Captain Ian Feasey RN, who is in charge of the powerful vessel, said: “It is fantastic for the Fleet Flagship to be back in this spectacular region to make use of this upgraded facility supporting our role as the United Kingdom’s Strike Carrier.
“The ship’s drumbeat of visits here over the coming years will punctuate the strong affiliation that we have with Scotland.”
He added that HMS Queen Elizabeth is visiting Glen Mallan as part of a routine logistics visit, after returning to sea as the UK’s Very High Readiness Strike Carrier.
Construction of HMS Queen Elizabeth began in 2009 with six shipyards around the UK involved in building different sections of the ship which were then transported to Rosyth dockyard where they were assembled.
Her Royal Majesty the Queen officially named the carrier on July 4, 2014, with the vessel leaving the dry dock a few days later on July 17.
The largest and most powerful vessel ever constructed for the Royal Navy, HMS Queen Elizabeth was at the centre of the Carrier Strike Group deployment in 2021.
Supported by eight other ships, a submarine, five air squadrons and some 3,700 personnel, the seven-month-long deployment saw the ship visit more than 40 countries.
The ship is using the transit from her home at Portsmouth and follow-on programme to test newly refurbished equipment and to continue to train as a team.
Part of that team is Leading Engineering Technician (Mechanical Engineer) (LET (ME)) Cook, who is continuing an Accelerated Apprenticeship with the ship.
He said: “The ship has brilliant facilities and is so modern; it’s a great place to put theory into practice.
"While we are alongside at Glen Mallan this gives us a great opportunity to get into the hills for some hiking and maybe even arrange a visit to Glen Coe.“
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