HMS Prince of Wales drops anchor and lifts new role as Royal Navy flagship
HMS Prince of Wales has dropped anchor alongside in Liverpool as she takes up a significant new role.
The carrier's arrival in the Merseyside city coincides with the news that she is now officially the nation's flagship – the first time the 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier has held the honour in her five years of service.
HMS Prince of Wales is preparing for the upcoming UK Carrier Strike Group 2025 operation, which will take the vessel and her task force east of the Suez Canal on a global mission.
It has been a busy year of build-up activities ahead of a tour to the Far East, something Captain Will Blackett spoke to BFBS Forces News about from inside the carrier's aircraft hangar.
"The whole of this year has been about getting HMS Prince of Wales ready for now, this moment, when we've been declared as the flagship, the very high readiness carrier."
He added: "There are two carriers in the Navy, one of them always holds the duty of being effectively the response to any crisis defence might need us to go and deal with."
'Happy days'
Sailing into an iconic port – like Liverpool – has not been lost on her crew, especially local lad Able Rate 1 Declan Bennett, born just a few miles away from the port.
"It's brilliant, innit? It's brilliant. There's nowhere else like it."
He added: "You're sailing straight into home, you know where you're going, you know what you're doing straight away.
"You know all your family are going to be there, it's all happy days."
Prince of Wales will be alongside in Liverpool for the next week and, on Friday, she will receive the Freedom of the City.
Then it will be time to sail away, proudly, with her new status as flagship.
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