Teething troubles: The problems faced by the crews of the Royal Navy's two carriers
HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are the largest and most powerful ships ever built for the Royal Navy.
The project to build the two aircraft carriers cost the UK more than £6bn.
HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales have each taken on numerous deployments since their commissioning into the Royal Navy in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
But neither vessel has been without problems, which have forced them to undergo repair work or even pull out of multinational exercises.
Both ships have had to step in for one another on exercise.
Here are a few of the notable incidents.
HMS Queen Elizabeth
February 2024
The Royal Navy’s fleet flagship was due to lead Exercise Steadfast Defender – the largest Nato exercise since the Cold War – but this was cancelled at the last minute after a problem with her starboard propeller shaft coupling was spotted during final checks.
HMS Prince of Wales was deployed to take the place of the £3bn warship on the major exercise.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the issue on HMS Queen Elizabeth was separate and not linked to an earlier defect on her sister ship.
HMS Prince of Wales
August 2022
HMS Prince of Wales broke down as she was heading out for joint exercises with the US Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the US Marine Corps.
The carrier came to a halt off the Isle of Wight and was brought back under tow into Portsmouth harbour for the problem to be identified.
Inspections by divers and engineers found the 33-tonne starboard propeller – the same weight as 30 Ford Fiesta cars – had malfunctioned, with a coupling holding it in place breaking.
HMS Prince of Wales was taken to the Babcock shipyard where she was built in Rosyth to undergo repairs to the propeller shaft, which took nine months to complete.
On that occasion, HMS Queen Elizabeth acted as the replacement for her sister ship on the US deployment.
February 2023
A second, separate shaft on board HMS Prince of Wales was found to have similar issues to those which caused the aircraft carrier to retreat for repairs the previous August.
The Defence Select Committee heard the ship's port shaft was also found to have encountered difficulties, following checks regarding the initial error.
October 2020
An investigation was launched after personnel had to remove water from a compartment of the ship due to a leak that had been caused by an "internal system" issue.
May 2020
Earlier that year, another investigation was carried out after a leaking pipe caused an ankle-high flood on board the carrier.
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