Shipbuilders have crafted a labyrinthine leviathan

She may be a symbol of British military might, however for 679 men and women H MS Queen Elizabeth is also their new home, writes Jonathan Watson.

Aircraft carriers are often described as “cities at sea” and with her crew facing nine months of life on the ocean waves, it is important that the Royal Navy’s new flagship can provide everything a person would require on land.

As you would expect, space is at a premium and not one square inch of this ship’s design has been wasted.

Crew will sleep six to a room and even the captain only gets a single bed, however naval bunks are now larger then before and everyone is able to decorate their bed space as they see fit.

The “beating heart” of the ship, so I am told, is the galley and the scale of the kitchens on Queen Elizabeth are immense.

They say an army marches on its stomach and menus are formulated to provide personnel with a healthy, balanced diet.

Menus are rotated every five weeks to ensure the crew do not get too accustomed to the same dishes, with the ship capable of holding supplies to last 100 days.

A state-of-the-art medical centre, complete with a dentist, is also present, capable of dealing with anything from cuts and scrapes to complex surgery.

Without watertight doors every few yards, it is one of the few places on board with a completely flat floor, while its design is apparently based on the medical centre used by British forces at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.

The vessel really is a maze of corridors, with almost no reference points to help anyone who may feel lost.

The humidity is intense and it is no surprise to see almost all of the naval staff in short sleeves, even in Scotland.

To escape the heat we head on to the flight deck, which in the coming years will become the centre of activity on Queen Elizabeth.

At 4.5 acres and equivalent in size to every tennis court at Wimbledon placed side-by-side, it really is an awesome place to stand, even without the aircraft.

When they do arrive, air operations will be controlled from the ship’s rear control tower, a design feature unique to the British carriers due to its twin funnels, which have been integrated into the two structures.

Naval navigation, meanwhile, will be controlled from the front tower, filled with the computers that bring this leviathan of the seas to life.