Capable of carrying 60 aircraft including fixed wing, rotary wing and autonomous vehicles, [19] she is named in honour of the first HMS Queen Elizabeth , a World War I era super-dreadnought , which in turn was named after Queen Elizabeth I.
The carrier Queen Elizabeth will carry her namesake ship's honours, as well as her Tudor rose -adorned crest and motto. The ship began sea trials in June , [20] was commissioned on 7 December and entered service in Her first seagoing commanding officer was Commodore Jerry Kyd , who was appointed in , but didn't take command until May , [21] having previously commanded the carriers Ark Royal and Illustrious. The air wing will typically consist of FB Lightning II multirole fighters and Merlin helicopters for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare.
The design emphasises flexibility, with accommodation for Royal Marines and the ability to support them with attack helicopters and large troop transports such as Chinooks. When on operations, Queen Elizabeth will deploy as the central part of a UK Carrier Strike Group , comprising escorts and support ships, with the aim to facilitate carrier-enabled power projection.
Construction of Queen Elizabeth began in Travelling miles km around the northern coast of Scotland, the block arrived at Rosyth on the evening of 20 August On 28 October , an 11,tonne section of the carrier began a lengthy journey around the south coast of England, avoiding bad weather from the shipbuilding hall at Govan to the Rosyth dockyard; it arrived on 21 November.
The ski jump was added in November , [14] leaving just the elevators and radar to be lifted into place. The carrier is three times the size of the Invincible -class , and has the ability to carry approximately three times as many aircraft. Despite this, Queen Elizabeth has marginally fewer crew than the Invincible -class. The ship has two superstructures, or islands, one for navigation and ship's operations and the other for flight control and aerial operations. The islands can take on each other's function if one is incapacitated.
