British aircraft carrier delayed from Nato mission for unknown reasons

HMS Prince of Wales’ departure to lead the biggest Nato exercise since the Cold War has been delayed at the last minute.

The Royal Navy’s £3 billion aircraft carrier should have set sail from Portsmouth on Sunday, in order to lead a Carrier Strike Group of eight ships, but her journey was cancelled for reasons unknown.

It comes after HMS Queen Elizabeth, the British aircraft carrier originally set to join the exercise, which will mark the largest deployment of land forces to Nato since the height of the Cold War in 1984, had to be called off because of an “issue” with its starboard propeller coupling.

Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, was forced to address MPs’ concerns in the Commons after the issue with the carrier was made public. Mr Shapps insisted that it was “the case that through an abundance of caution on a final inspection” the decision had been taken “for the aircraft carrier not to sail”.

He also said that he had spoken to the First Sea Lord who had made it clear to him that in the event of an “emergency situation”, HMS Queen Elizabeth “quite probably would have sailed”.

Defence sources stressed there was nothing “untoward” about Sunday’s delay and it is understood that the warship is being prepared to sail towards Norway on Monday afternoon instead.

However today’s latest setback comes 18 months after HMS Prince of Wales broke down off the Isle of Wight, when it also suffered a malfunction with a coupling on its starboard propeller.

Since its sister ship’s cancellation was announced, the crew and base workers have been preparing HMS Prince of Wales to take the lead in the exercise.

It comes at a time where concerns have been raised regarding the decision not to send either of the UK’s aircraft carriers to the Red Sea, where dozens of drone and missile attacks have been launched against British and American commercial and naval ships since November last year.

The attacks have caused major delays for global shipping, as tankers and container ships are re-rerouted around Africa to avoid the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait, the entry point to the Red Sea between Yemen and Djibouti.

The Telegraph previously revealed that HMS Queen Elizabeth was not at optimal readiness for deployment because of a Navy staffing shortage, though defence sources insisted earlier this year that both carriers were ready to be deployed to the region if necessary.

On Sunday morning spectators lined the walls of Portsmouth Harbour to watch the vessel’s departure.

However after Ministry of Defence police boats secured the area and the harbour mouth was closed to traffic, as part of normal protocol for the departure of a carrier, the channel was reopened with HMS Prince of Wales having failed to leave the jetty.

It is unclear if the sailing was cancelled before the carrier was set to leave or whether it had made its first movements from the jetty at Portsmouth Naval Base.

One member of the public who had come to wave off the carrier said: “I hope it hasn’t broken down again.”

After about 20 minutes, the hundreds of people gathered to see the ship started to disperse as word spread that it was not leaving.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is due to sail from Portsmouth soon, subject to suitable tide and weather conditions. Any further updates on sailing times will be published on KHM Portsmouth’s shipping movements later today.”