The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales could miss crucial flight trials with F-35B Lightning jets off the American coast after it suffered a problem with a propeller shaft.
The £3 billion carrier, which was commissioned in 2019, set sail from Portsmouth on Saturday amid great fanfare but had barely reached the open sea before it had to turn back because of an “emerging mechanical issue.”
It has now been confirmed by the Royal Navy that the starboard propeller shaft has malfunctioned.
The carrier has now limped back into the Solent, pulled by tugs, and is moored in Stokes Bay off Gosport while a detailed assessment is carried out by Navy divers….