UK's largest warship HMS Prince of Wales welcomes new commanding officer

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has given a "very warm welcome" to Captain Will Blackett who has today assumed command of the £3bn carrier.

Britain's biggest warship returned to Portsmouth naval base last month after her landmark deployment to the east coast of the United States.

In welcoming a new commanding officer they must say farewell to their former CO, Captain Hewitt OBE, "who has overseen a successful 2023", the carrier posted on X, formerly Twitter.

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The warship spent the last few months of 2023 undergoing sea and air trials, including training with American F-35 jets.

Crowds lined Portsmouth's city walls in December to welcome the sailors home, while almost 3,000 family and friends were on the jetty to be reunited with their loved ones who set sail in September.

The carrier's deployment to the US east coast was long-awaited after she broke down when setting sail for the trials last year, with the repairs taking nine months to complete and expected to cost £25m.

As for 2024, outgoing commanding officer Captain Hewitt spoke to Forces News in December, when the carrier arrived back in Portsmouth about what the new year would hold for the carrier.

He said: "As we look to mid-2024, she will take over the role as the on-call strike carrier for the Royal Navy."

He added this will be a "huge" role for the carrier.

"Queen Elizabeth will quite rightly have some downtime and some maintenance and PoW is back, ready to go, and ready to take up the mantle, looking forward to deploying in 2025," Capt Hewitt said.