Watch a flying tour of Britain’s new aircraft carrier
SUMMARY
Great Britain once had the most powerful Navy in the world, but since 2010, they haven't had a single aircraft carrier.
That changed earlier this week.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth — the largest and most powerful carrier the Royal Navy has ever built — set sail on June 26 for the first time.
With a price tag of about $3.8 billion, it's also Britain's most expensive ship ever built. Still, the juice might be worth the squeeze.
"I think there are very few capabilities, by any country, that are as symbolic as a carrier strike capability," commanding officer Captain Jerry Kyd told reporters on June 26. "These are visible symbols of power and power projection."
Manned by a crew of 1,000 sailors, the ship is 919-feet long, weighs 65,000 tons, and can hold 40 jets.