£3bn aircraft carrier makes her first stop
THE ROYAL Navy’s new £3bn aircraft carrier has arrived in Gibraltar for her first overseas port visit.
The 65,000-tonne warship has called in at the British Overseas Territory for a routine logistics stop having left her home base of Portsmouth, Hampshire, for helicopter trials.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “As the Rock casts its shadow over the flight deck of our world-class aircraft carrier, Gibraltar rightfully marks HMS first overseas stop as she refuels and takes on supplies before continuing her sea trials.
“I’m sure our friends in Gibraltar will be proud to see our future flagship sail through British waters into their famous port.”
Commanding officer Captain Jerry Kyd said: “It is a great privilege for me to be bringing our new aircraft carrier into Gibraltar for her first ever overseas port visit.
“Gibraltar is the perfect stop for HMS as we conduct our flying trials in the waters off the Iberian Peninsula.
“And our visit also underlines the incredibly rich history and special relationship the Royal Navy and Royal Marines share with Gibraltar.”
Since departing the UK for the first time since being commissioned into the Royal Navy,
and its ship’s company of 1,000 men and women have been undergoing training in dealing with a series of lifelike exercise scenarios including fires, floods, man-overboard drills and a simulated crash on deck.
The governor of Gibraltar, Lieutenant General Edward Davis, said: “I wish HMS
and her crew Godspeed as they make us all proud to be British.”
The carrier reached a major milestone last week when a Naval Air Squadron embarked in the ship for the first time.
And for the first time, a tandem-rotor RAF Chinook helicopter was stowed in the carrier’s hangar, which is large enough to house the 99ft-long helicopter even without its rotors folded.
The commander of British Forces in Gibraltar, Commodore Mike Walliker, said: “There is never any doubt in a sailor’s mind that Gibraltar is the Mediterranean home from home of the Royal Navy, as the Rock has been for centuries now, and will continue to be the maritime gateway to everywhere.”
The ship was escorted into Gibraltar by the Royal Navy’s Devonport-based Type 23 frigate