The largest warship ever built in the UK has been officially named at a ceremony in Rosyth attended by the Queen, Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond.
The 65,000-tonne Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth was formally christened during an event at the BAE Systems yard on the bans of the Forth, here the ship was assembled and fitted out.
The Queen, who was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, oversaw the traditional naming ceremony by pressing a button to release a bottle of Islay malt whisky suspended at the front of the ship to smash on to the hull.
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About 3,500 people involved in the design and construction of the carrier watched the celebrations, alongside dignitaries and politicians including First Sea Lord Admiral Sir George Zambellas, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond.
Also attending the ceremony were Chancellor George Osborne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael, as well as former prime minister and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP Gordon Brown.
The RAF’s Red Arrows performed a fly-past during the event, painting the sky over the Forth red, white and blue.
The fly-past was followed by a procession of three generations of Royal Navy aircraft, including a historic 1950s de Havilland Sea Vixen fighter the last and only flying aircraft of its kind in the world.
Aircraft Carrier Alliance managing director Ian Booth, the man overseeing the construction of the ship, said: “This is a historic occasion for our country and a proud moment for more than 10,000 people across the UK who have worked together to deliver HMS Queen Elizabeth.
“This is an engineering challenge of unprecedented scale and complexity for UK shipbuilding and I want to congratulate everyone involved in making today possible.
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“The ship truly reflects the very best of British design and ingenuity and we all feel an enormous honour to see Her Majesty name her today.”
The naming ceremony, a naval tradition dating back thousands of years, marked the first time in more than 15 years that the Queen has christened a Royal Navy warship.
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It comes five years after the first metal was cut on the vessel and 33 months after the first section entered the dry dock at Rosyth for construction to begin.
The ship and a second vessel, the under-construction HMS Prince of Wales, are the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy.
For full coverage of the ceremony, and the story of the warship, see Saturday’s Courier.