Britain's £3billion warship HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail for eight weeks despite two of the 700 crew on board being removed after testing positive for coronavirus (8 Pics)

Britain's most powerful warship has set sail on a training exercise for eight weeks - despite two of its 700-strong crew testing positive for coronavirus.

HMS Queen Elizabeth had been expected to take to the water from Portsmouth Naval Base at the start of the week, but the departure was delayed to allow the ship's company to be tested. 

Two people were found to have have contracted the virus and were removed just hours before the vessel left the harbour, after several days of mixing with others on board, though navy bosses insist all were complying with social distancing where practicable.

It comes after concerns were raised when more than 600 members of the crew of a French aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels tested positive for Covid-19, while a sailor died after coming down with the bug on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. 

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves Portsmouth Harbour, pictured, after being delayed due to the crew being tested for coronavirus

Members of the ship's company waved from the 65,000-tonne vessel, pictured, as it took to the water for the next two months

The Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier, pictured, will undergo several weeks of training and assessment with the staff of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST), facing simulated battle damage, fires and floods, as well as warfare training and mission rehearsals

People took selfies, pictured, as the Royal Navy aircraft carrier left the harbour on Wednesday evening to help prepare it to be in a position to declare carrier strike capability later this year

Tests were carried out after more than 600 members of the crew of a French aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels were found to have Covid-19, while a sailor died after coming down with the bug on the USS Theodore Roosevelt

Defence secretary Ben Wallace told MPs last week that he had given all ships' captains in the Royal Navy full authority to return to port, come alongside or evacuate if they had an outbreak on board

It led shadow defence secretary John Healey to call for the military to be tested and for large-scale training exercises to be postponed to protect personnel.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: 'While many Royal Navy and Royal Marine personnel from the regular and reserve forces remain ashore supporting, the current national fight against Covid-19, the ship's company of HMS Queen Elizabeth are focused on ensuring that UK Defence remains prepared for future global threats.

'All personnel sailing with the ship, have undergone testing for coronavirus.

'As a further precaution, HMS Queen Elizabeth will conduct a period of isolation at sea, before she starts her training with the Flag Officer Sea Training (Fost) staff.

'She will be operating in waters close to the UK coast and the commanding officer has the discretion to cease the training, if deemed necessary.'

Defence secretary Ben Wallace told MPs last week that he had given all ships' captains in the Royal Navy full authority to return to port, come alongside or evacuate if they had an outbreak on board.

He said: 'In the case of Queen Elizabeth, I have spoken to the captain directly myself and said we will not judge you, we will not think any the worse of you if when you are at sea you feel the need to come back because of a crew outbreak.

'I have also said to the First Sea Lord, you must justify in writing why it is necessary to put to sea.'

The Queen Elizabeth is sailing for a period of sea training and carrier training around the south coast to help prepare it to be in a position to declare carrier strike capability later this year ahead of its first deployment planned for early 2021.

The training will include the UK Lightning fighter jet crews which will practice manoeuvres on its flight decks.

The huge £3billion vessel is capable of carrying up to 40 aircraft and its company will number around 1,600 personnel.

As well as state-of-the-art weaponry and communications systems, HMS Queen Elizabeth boasts everything from gyms to a chapel and a medical centre. 

The project was years in the making, with designs beginning as early as 1999, and the ship was built in nine different blocks in six shipyards across the UK.

Its design, build and development involved every region of the country, and more than 10,000 people, clocking in some 28 million hours of work.

It has not been without its stumbling blocks, however, after a burst pipe onboard let in more than 200 tons of water and put it out of commission for the second time in just 19 months. 

The navy spokesman said last night: 'HMS Queen Elizabeth has sailed from Portsmouth today to ensure she is ready to conduct her first operational deployment in 2021.

'She will undergo several weeks of training and assessment with the staff of Fost to ensure the UK can deliver on its commitment to have a Carrier Strike Group ready to deploy from the end of this year.'

It comes as the flagship of the French Navy is at the centre of a coronavirus emergency - following a training exercise with NATO allies including a British frigate.

The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, one of the largest warships in the world, is thought to have at least 40 cases of the virus among its force of around 2,000.

A French Armed Forces Ministry spokesman confirmed the Charles de Gaulle was on its way back to Toulon. It has been deployed in the Atlantic as part of the Foch mission and is pictures above off the coast of Frederikshavn in Denmark

It was steaming back to its home port of Toulon, in the south of France, on Wednesday morning as a screening team prepared to board.

A French Armed Forces Ministry spokesman said: 'Around 40 sailors are today under close medical observation.

'They are showing symptoms consistent with possible Covid-19 infection. These first symptoms have appeared recently.'

At the end of March the Charles de Gaulle was the flagship for NATO Maritime Group One and took part in a training exercise off the east coast of Denmark.

The force included the Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland, which has a complement of 185.

A case of coronavirus has also been reported on the Belgian frigate Léopold 1, which was escorting the Charles de Gaulle.

The Charles de Gaulle is currently in the Atlantic and returning to Toulon as quickly as possible.

It is equipped with a medical platform on board complete with a resuscitation unit, and everything is being done to keep those who are thought to be infected away from their comrades.

Sailors displaying symptoms of coronavirus are all being placed in solitary confinement.

Inside Britain's most powerful warship: HMS Queen Elizabeth goes to sea with 66,000 bangers on board (and 12,000 tins of beans)

• The design of the Queen Elizabeth class of carriers began in 1999 and the ships are expected to have a 50-year service life.
• The carriers can travel in excess of 25 knots per hour, have a range of 10,000 nautical miles and they are designed for deployments typically lasting nine months.
• Each ship can keep 45 days' worth of food in their stores and a typical deployment would sail with 66,000 sausages, 28,800 rashers of bacon, 64,800 eggs and 12,000 tins of beans.
• The ships have 67 catering staff and have their own bakery which can produce 1,000 loaves of bread per day.
• Each flight deck is 70 metres wide and 280 metres long, which is enough space for four jumbo jets.
• The ships are 56m from keel to masthead which is six metres taller than Nelson's Column, and each ship has 17 decks and 15 lifts.
• Each ship can operate on a crew of 679, which, despite the ships' size, is fewer crew members than for the Invincible class aircraft carriers that they replace.
• Each ship can accommodate up to 1,600 personnel, which would include a full air crew, but also provides space for embarked personnel such as Royal Marines.
• HMS Queen Elizabeth's home berth, Sheer Jetty at Portsmouth Naval Base, has been in use since the 1600s and sits opposite HMS Victory, the world's oldest commissioned warship.
• The ships will fly the F35-B fighter jets - which can fly at 1.6 mach - as well as any type of helicopter used by the UK armed forces.
• Each ship will be able to fly 72 fast jet sorties per day, which can be increased further for limited periods.
• It takes 60 seconds to lift four aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck on each of the two lifts and the ski-jumps that are used for take-off are 6m high.
• Each ship will sail with an escort vessel, such as a Type 45 destroyer, which takes the lead in engaging threats.
• Each ship generates 80MW of power in their propellers, which is equal to 50 high speed trains.
• The fog horn is 162 decibels and can be heard from more than two miles away.
• The ships have their own police office and cells as well as their own dentist, pharmacy, surgery and operating theatre, fitness suites and cinemas.
• Each ship can convert sea water into more than 500 tonnes of drinking water each day, which is for both the crew and providing humanitarian relief.
• Each ship is made up of 17 million parts and there are more than 250,000km of electrical cable and 8,000km of fibre optic cable inside each of the ships.
• There are also 364,000 metres of pipes inside each of the ships, which could stretch from Rosyth to Wales.