Royal Navy's biggest carrier sails for the North Sea ahead of mission

Britain's biggest Royal Navy aircraft carrier has set sail for the North Sea to carry out a major series of war games ahead of her milestone global deployment. 

HMS Prince of Wales was cheered off as she departed from her home city of Portsmouth, in Hampshire, yesterday.

The 65,000-tonne naval behemoth is now on her way to join a critical autumn training programme off the Scottish coast.

The Queen Elizabeth-class carrier, which cost £3.5billion and is the size of three football fields, will lead the UK Carrier Strike Group taking part in Exercise Strike Warrior.

The drill will be a key opportunity for the mighty aircraft carrier to flex her muscles ahead of next year's operational tour to the Indo-Pacific region.

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She will embark a number of F-35B Lightning stealth jets from 617 'Dambusters' Squadron for the training drill.

Also joining the Royal Navy supercarrier will be aviators from 809 Naval Air Squadron. 

Flying the fight-generation stealth jets out of RAF Marham, Norfolk, it will be the first time the jets will have joined Prince of Wales.

The war games will give pilots an opportunity to achieve their carrier qualifications, while engineers, technicians and armourers will learn how to support them.

Wildcat attack helicopters from 815 Naval Air Squadron, based at RNAS Yeovilton, which use missiles to defend the ship, will also be on board.

The exercise will provide critical training for the carrier ahead of a milestone mission to the the Indo-Pacific next year.

HMS Prince of Wales was commissioned into naval service by King Charles when he was the Prince of Wales in 2019. 

Her sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, was commissioned in December 2017.