Aircraft
Britain’s Costly Carrier Enters Home Port
HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of two huge new warships, completed initial sea trials, but won’t be operational until the end of 2020.
A Wildcat helicopter departs HMS Queen Elizabeth as it prepares to enter Portsmouth harbor. Five Merlin helicopters are parked on the deck. (Photo: UK MoD Crown)
A Wildcat helicopter departs HMS Queen Elizabeth as it prepares to enter Portsmouth harbor. Five Merlin helicopters are parked on the deck. (Photo: UK MoD Crown)

The first of the UK’s two new aircraft carriers sailed into its home base at Portsmouth today for the first time, after seven weeks of initial trials at sea. The 65,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth II is due to be handed over to the Royal Navy by the end of the year, from the Air Carrier Alliance (ACA) consortium that built her. The two warships are costing more than £6.5 billion ($8.4 billion), nearly £3 billion more than expected when the contract was signed in mid-2008.


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