British Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales floated out

The British Royal Navy’s second Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, the future HMS Prince of Wales, has been floated for the first time.

The undocking of the vessel was carried out ahead of schedule after being originally planned later this year.

UK Defence Procurement Minister Harriett Baldwin said: “This is an important moment in the monumental programme to build these two magnificent ships.

“I would like to thank the 10,000 people from across the UK who have helped us make such progress during 2017 on both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.”

The 65,000t navy vessel is currently undergoing fitting out activities in Rosyth, Scotland.

Its generators and gas turbines are slated to become operational for the first time by mid-2018.

HMS Prince of Wales is scheduled to carry out its sea trials in 2019 with a total of 679 crew members.

The aircraft carrier was officially named during a ceremony in Rosyth in September last year.

Its christening ceremony took place three weeks after HMS Queen Elizabeth first entered its home port of Portsmouth as part of its maiden sea trials programme.

The navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class ships are being built by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance comprising BAE Systems, Babcock, Thales and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).