The UK Royal Navy was left red-faced after its HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier sprang a leak, forcing the flagship to cut its five-week long sea trials short.
The leak was described as a “minor issue with an internal system”, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Wednesday.
“An investigation into the cause is under way,” an MoD spokesperson added.
The warship, which cost £3.1bn, was rerouted back to Portsmouth as a precaution following the watery discovery on Tuesday.
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The leaky mess was contained by personnel and pumped out of the vessel, with the warship later returning to moor at Portsmouth.
Other troubles plaguing the HMS Queen Elizabeth were revealed in May, where the ship’s former captain, Nick Cooke-Priest, was removed from deck after claims he misused the vessel’s Ford Galaxy.
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The HMS Queen Elizabeth, which was commissioned by the Queen Sovereign in December 2017 and weighs 65,000 tonnes, recently stayed at dry dock at its birthplace in Rosyth in Fife, where it was inspected and underwent routine maintenance, allowing the ship to potentially avoid future dock check-ups for a further six years. Despite this, the ship's latest snafu proved otherwise.
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