BBC: HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves Portsmouth on maiden deployment
Aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has left its home in Portsmouth ahead of its first operational deployment.
The £3bn warship was waved off by crowds who lined the city's harbour walls on Saturday afternoon. It will lead the UK's Carrier Strike Group, which is taking part in an exercise off Scotland before departing for a tour of the Indo-Pacific region.
The ship began sea trials in 2017, having replaced HMS Illustrious which was scrapped in 2014.
It has eight RAF and 10 US Marine Corps F35B stealth fighter jets onboard and will be accompanied to Asia by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.
Earlier, other members of the strike group, destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, also left the naval base in Hampshire.
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More News On Royal Navy 'Strike Group' Leaving Portsmouth For Indo-Pacific Deployment
Royal Navy 'strike group' heading for Far East led by HMS Queen Elizabeth -- Plymouth Live
Watch: HMS Defender and HMS Diamond leave Portsmouth ready for Indo-Pacific deployment -- The Telegraph
Huge crowds come out in Portsmouth to see HMS Queen Elizabeth depart -- Portsmouth
Big Lizzie prepares for show of force to China -- Daily Mail
