Inside Britain’s spectacular £3billion HMS Queen Elizabeth as she’s due to arrive at Portsmouth base for the first time this morning along with 700-strong crew

THE biggest and most powerful warship ever built by Britain sends a message to the UK’s allies and enemies that the country means business, its captain says.

The £3 billion HMS Queen Elizabeth is set to be the nation’s future flagship, and her 700-strong company plus 200 contractors are poised to enter Portsmouth Naval Base this morning.

HMS Queen Elizabeth makes its way through the sea en route to Portsmouth

The massive aircraft carrier was built for a cost of £3billion

The spectacular ship is the biggest and most powerful warship ever built in Britain

The ship sends a message to Britain’s enemies that the UK ‘means business’, its captain says

The massive warship is set to be the flagship of Britain

Speaking on board as the vessel sailed in the English Channel, Captain Jerry Kyd said he is feeling a “huge amount of pride” ahead of the vessel berthing in her home port.

Quizzed on whether he thinks aircraft carriers such as HMS Queen Elizabeth put the UK in the Naval premier league, he added: “It sends the right signals to our allies and indeed potentially to our enemies that we mean business.

“The armed forces are fundamentally an insurance policy for the country and you can’t just, at the flick of a switch, decide that you need these capabilities.

“You have to buy them, work them up, train them, integrate them with the rest of defence so they’re ready to be called upon when required. You can’t just buy it off the shelf.

“Yes, it costs money, but it is all about having the right investment and having the right equipment for the hundreds, if not thousands of young men and women that go to war on behalf of the nation.

“It is absolutely an obligation of the taxpayer to ensure we have the right equipment.”

During her estimated half a century working life, the 280-metre vessel can be pressed into action for various work such as high intensity war fighting or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

“Of course when Henry VIII built Portsmouth, it was designed for ships the size of Mary Rose so we have had to make a few little changes to make sure we can fit in and be supported there.”

Crew members work at computers inside the massive base

A chef prepares food on the ship’s lower decks

A helicopter is pictured perched on top of the ship

Preparations for the ship’s arrival saw more than 3.2 million cubic metres of sediment removed from the harbour to ensure the entrance is deep enough to allow the giant ship to access the Hampshire base.

During the dredging, more than 20,000 items were removed from the sea bed including eight cannons, an aircraft engine, 36 anchors, a British torpedo, a German sea mine, five large bombs and a human skull – which was passed to local police.

Mark Deller, Commander Air on HMS Queen Elizabeth, said the four-acre flight deck is a capability the Navy has not had before.

A crew member peers through binoculars

The massive Royal Navy ships also contains a gym

Quizzed on the ship heading into Portsmouth, he said it will be a proud moment.

“It is going to be a good day, we are bringing our ship in. But what I wouldn’t want to do is to sell the story that this is it, the bees knees and we are bringing our new Ferrari out of the garage.

“It is not Ferrari yet we have still got some work to do. She’s not finished.”

The warship is expected to arrive in Portsmouth shortly after 7am.

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