HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves Glen Mallan bound for Rosyth to undergo crucial repairs

HMS Queen Elizabeth has left Glen Mallan in Loch Long as she heads east to undergo repairs in Rosyth.

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier needs essential maintenance work on her starboard propeller shaft coupling.

This problem was the reason for the Royal Navy's flagship being withdrawn from leading a Carrier Strike Group on Nato's Exercise Steadfast Defender.

She was replaced on the deployment by her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales.

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HMS Queen Elizabeth began her journey for repairs earlier in March when she set sail from Portsmouth naval base.

Members of the public braved the rain on Portsmouth's city walls to watch the ship's departure to the dockyard on the Firth of Forth where she was built – and the Forces News livestream of the ship setting sail can be rewatched in the video here.

Last week, the Royal Navy's Carrier Strike Group, led by HMS Prince of Wales, completed Exercise Joint Warrior – one part of Steadfast Defender, which is Nato's biggest exercise since the Cold War.

Joint Warrior, the UK-led part of the exercise, involved the simulation of surface, air and land scenarios to evaluate the collaborative capabilities of Nato nations and allied partners when responding to hostilities in home waters.

Aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales was joined by more than 30 ships, four submarines, multiple aircraft – from maritime patrol aircraft to F-35 Lightning jets – and more than 20,000 personnel from nations including Canada, Denmark, France and Spain.