HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, is pulled by tugs under the Forth Rail Bridge in the Firth of Forth.
These images show the moment the Royal Navy’s biggest ever warship passed under Scotland’s most iconic bridge.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth manoeuvred beneath the Forth Bridge overnight as it departed Rosyth Dockyard on its maiden voyage into the North Sea.
HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, is pulled by tugs under the Forth Rail Bridge in the Firth of Forth, as she sets sail to begin her sea trials.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth is pulled under the Forth Rail Bridge.
The mighty aircraft carrier weighs 65,000 tonnes, is 918ft long and has the capacity for 1,600 crew members. It has a top speed of 25 knots per hour and can travel 500 miles a day.
Yesterday the vessel carried out a series of intricate manoeuvres as it made its way down the Firth of Forth, passing under its three bridges in the dark of night.
The ship is pulled by tugs under the Forth Rail Bridge in the Firth of Forth, as she sets sail to begin her sea trials.
Next year it is anticipated that HMS Queen Elizabeth will head to the United States for aircraft trials with Lockheed Martin F-35B multi-role fighters, of which up she will carry up to 36, along with several Merlin anti-submarine helicopters.
It is expected that she will formally enter service in 2020.
