The Royal Navy’s flagship has departed Liverpool after a visit that forged closer ties between the Senior Service and the city.
HMS Queen Elizabeth made a stop in Liverpool across five days during which the ship’s sailors engaged with the local community, including a rugby match against Birkenhead side Old Parkonians, and culture stops at museums and the city’s historic waterfront.
Local youth groups and veterans were given tours of the bridge, operations room, flight deck and hangar on board the ship while she was alongside at the City of Liverpool Cruise Terminal.
Visitors also came from across the north, with students from Hopwood Hall in Rochdale and Leeds City College given the opportunity to learn about the variety of roles across the navy, while cadets from the Combined Cadet Forces were also shown around by sailors and officers under training.
Queen Elizabeth’s sister ship HMS Prince of Wales – which is affiliated with Liverpool – came to Merseyside two years’ ago and this latest visit reaffirmed the close bonds between navy and city, with huge crowds welcoming her arrival last Thursday.
Captain Ian Feasey Royal Navy, commanding officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth said: “It is fantastic for the Fleet Flagship to be able to visit Liverpool; a city and region that was so instrumental in the construction of both Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales.
“I hope that we have built upon the strong relationships forged by our sister ship during her visit in 2020 and that our visit goes some way to demonstrate to the people of Liverpool and Merseyside the importance the Royal Navy puts on the bond between the Service and a city with such rich maritime heritage.”
The 65,000 tonne warship left Liverpool today as she continues essential training to ensure she is ready for operations anywhere in the world, carrying out exercises in waters close to the UK.
Commander Neil Twigg, known on board as “wings” in his role commanding flying operations from the carrier’s vast flight deck, is a former University of Liverpool student.
He said: “I started my Royal Navy career as a Midshipman in the Liverpool University Royal Navy Unit (URNU) back in 1995, sailing up and down the Mersey in HMS Charger.
“It feels very fitting to now return to a city for which I have such fond memories, as the Commander Air of the fleet flagship, co-ordinating flying operations.”
Sub Lieutenant Ethan Starmer-Jones, a Young Officer under training, added: “My dad grew up in the suburbs of Liverpool, in Speke.
“It has been such a privilege to conduct training on the fleet flagship and then visit Liverpool where my uncles and aunts can come and see first-hand where I have been living and working for the last eight weeks.
“Showing Combined Cadet Forces cadets and students around the ship makes me proud of the career I have chosen and I hope that at least some of them might feel that a career in the Royal Navy is something they may also pursue and enjoy as much as me.”
Queen Elizabeth spent most of last year on the Carrier Strike Group 21 deployment, which took the aircraft carrier, her F-35B Lightning jets and her task force of warships, a submarine and helicopters to the Indo-Pacific and back.
