HMS Queen Elizabeth: 30 stunning Portsmouth pictures of the Royal Navy flagship leaving the harbour after unexpected return

Local people watched from the Old Portsmouth sea wall as the impressive vessel left the harbour on Friday afternoon, November 3.

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The 65,000 tonne warship returned on Sunday, October 29, arriving back early from her deployment in the Norwegian and North Seas with aircraft across her flight deck. She is leading the UK Carrier Strike Group, with sailors undertaking vigorous training exercises with allies from Nato and the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) – as well as the RAF on strike missions.

In a social media post, a spokesperson for the ship said: “Farewell, Portsmouth! After a brief logistics stop we’re back to sea to resume our NATO tasking with our allies and partners in the North Sea. We’ve achieved a lot so far, but there’s much more to come.”

As previously reported in The News, a spokesman said: “HMS Queen Elizabeth has returned to port for a logistics stop and a short period of maintenance.”

HMS Queen Elizabeth initially left Portsmouth for the Autumn deployment on September 8.

Here are 30 stunning photos capturing her departure: