HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves rainy Portsmouth to begin journey up to Rosyth for repairs

HMS Queen Elizabeth has set sail from Portsmouth naval base en route to Rosyth dockyard where she will undergo repairs to fix a problem that ruled her out of Exercise Steadfast Defender.

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier had originally been expected to depart on Monday, but this was delayed due to the risk of high winds as she left the harbour.

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 you can rewatch the Forces News live stream of the ship setting sail in the video above.

• Teething troubles: The problems faced by the crews of the Royal Navy's two carriers
• Deploying HMS Prince of Wales on Steadfast Defender sends clear signal of UK's lofty Nato ambitions
• Royal Navy's Carrier Strike Group gathers momentum ahead of Exercise Steadfast Defender 

HMS Queen Elizabeth has an issue with her starboard propeller shaft coupling which forced her deployment on Exercise Steadfast Defender - Nato's largest exercise since the Cold War - to be cancelled at the last minute.

Sister ship HMS Prince of Wales was deployed instead to take the place of the £3bn fleet flagship on the exercise.

This setback comes 18 months after HMS Prince of Wales broke down off the Isle of Wight as she sailed for the US, having suffered a malfunction with a coupling on her starboard propeller.

On that occasion, HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed in her place and deployed to the US to undertake parts of HMS Prince of Wales' deployment.