First woman to take command of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, says newspaper

Commander Claire Thompson is to become the first female captain of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, according to a report in The Sun.

The newspaper says she will take over from Captain Will King in January 2025.

However, the Ministry of Defence is yet to confirm the appointment, with a spokesperson saying only: "The next captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth will be assigned in due course."

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As Captain of HMS Montrose, Cdr Thompson was awarded an OBE for her work delivering blows to drug smugglers and terrorists in the Gulf.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently in dock for repairs having arrived in Fife last March.

The £3bn aircraft carrier is undergoing work to her starboard propeller shaft coupling at Rosyth Dockyard – where construction on the ship was completed in 2017.

The ship left Portsmouth earlier in March before stopping off in Glen Mallan in Loch Long where a fire broke out on board.

HMS Queen Elizabeth was due to take part in the Exercise Steadfast Defender - Nato's biggest exercise in decades - but was replaced by her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales.

Cdr Thompson joined the Royal Navy in 2005 and has been on deployments that have taken her all over the world, including the South Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Baltic, and the Caribbean.

She spent a year as the Officer in Charge of the Royal Navy's Advanced Warfare training in HMS Collingwood prior to taking Command of HMS Montrose.

As the Commanding Officer, she is "incredibly proud" of her HMS Montrose team.

The frigate proved to be one of the Navy's most successful and effective warships in 2022, with Cdr Thompson and her crew of sailors and Royal Marines scoring four major drugs busts and two illegal arms caches.

On her OBE, she said she felt "hugely privileged and extremely humbled" to receive the award, as well as recognising the "selfless commitment of the men and women" on board HMS Montrose.

Cdr Thompson added that without the crew "none of that success is possible".