The construction of the HMS Queen Elizabeth the largest and most powerful warship built for the Royal Navy reached a major milestone yesterday when the first crew member joined the aircraft carrier.
Leading Hand Claire Butler (29) made history when she was presented with the first HMS Queen Elizabeth cap by Rear Admiral Steve Brunton at Babcock’s Dock in Rosyth, where the ship is being assembled.
The construction of the enormous 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier, which is 4m taller than Niagara Falls and will carry 1,600 crew, will be utilised by all three sectors of the armed forces.
Claire is one of eight Royal Navy staff selected as the first crew members who will work alongside the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, which is building the warship, to start implementing procedures for when the carrier becomes operational.
Claire said she was honoured to be the first crew member to be given a cap.
She said: ”It feels great, I’m really excited and honoured to be the first crew member to join the Queen Elizabeth.
”I’ve been in the navy 10 years last Sunday, so this is a nice bonus.
”My main task while the ship is still being built will be to set up the routines and procedures that will allow the rest of the crew to do their jobs.
”We are all well trained and as a team we will make sure this warship becomes operational and helps to safeguard the world’s oceans.”
The HMS Queen Elizabeth was built in Glasgow and Portsmouth before being taken to Rosyth, where it is currently being assembled by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a partnership between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the MoD.
The ship is due to be completed by 2016, with another aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, following later.
Each of the carriers will provide a four-acre operating base which can be deployed worldwide for battle, disaster relief and to provide humanitarian aid.
Rear Admiral Steve Brunton said:”She is very large, there is a lot of flight deck and she can take a lot of aircraft.
”She can move around the world at 500 miles a day and will do what the government wants it to at the time.”
The decommissioning of former Royal Navy flagship HMS Ark Royal last year and the conversion of HMS Illustrious into a helicopter carrier means the UK will have no fixed-wing carrier aircraft capability until 2020, when HMS Queen Elizabeth should be ready for active service.