History was made on 26 June as HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier, set sail from Rosyth to commence first stage sea trials off the north-east of Scotland.

Three years after she was officially named by HM the Queen, the nation’s future flagship will spend an initial period of around six weeks at sea to test the fundamentals of the ship. The sea trials will monitor speed, manoeuvrability, power and propulsion as well as undertaking weapons trials and additional tests on her levels of readiness. Following this initial period, HMS Queen Elizabeth will return to Rosyth for further testing and maintenance before heading back to sea for a second stage which aims to test her Mission Systems. She will transit to her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base to be handed over to the Royal Navy later this year.