‘Royal’ visit from ‘Nations Flagship’
HMS Queen Elizabeth
If you were on the waterfront today (Sunday 6 September 2026), looked out across Plymouth Sound and thought, "What is that huge vessel silhouetted on the horizon?", you're not alone.
The enormous grey shape beyond the breakwater was HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of the Royal Navy's two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers - and the UK's current Nation's Flagship.
At 65,000 tonnes and 284 metres long, she's one of the largest and most powerful warships ever built for the Royal Navy.
Her flight deck is 280 metres long - roughly the length of three football pitches laid end-to-end - and covers around four acres.
She's designed to operate F-35B Lightning fast jets, the short-take-off and vertical-landing variant of the F-35.
The aircraft are launched from the carrier's distinctive six-metre-high ski-jump ramp, while helicopters can also operate from the flight deck.
And here's a fact that might surprise you: although Queen Elizabeth can accommodate up to 1,600 people when aircraft are embarked, her normal crew is around 700.
And this floating city even has five gyms, a chapel and a medical centre.
Why was she here?
Queen Elizabeth left Portsmouth on Saturday evening (5 September) to begin a three-month programme of training and operations around the UK and northern Europe.
She's also currently serving as NATO's command ship for the Allied Response Force – the first time one of the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth-class carriers has taken on that role.
So Plymouth got a rather impressive glimpse of her as she began her latest deployment.
She sailed out of Plymouth Sound at around 4.30pm this afternoon. Whether we'll see her again on this particular trip remains to be seen.
But for a few hours today, there was certainly no mistaking what was happening out there.
Plymouth had acquired one very, very large neighbour.
Find out more about this impressive visitor, and see some great photos of her, by visiting The Royal Navy website.
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