Queen inaugurates new 'best of British' aircraft carrier

Queen Elizabeth II formally commissioned into the British navy the UK's newest and biggest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, at a ceremony on Thursday. The warship, which cost £3.0 billion (3.4 billion euros, $4.0 billion) to build, was hailed as "a true flagship for the 21st century".
"HMS Queen Elizabeth embodies the best of British technology and innovation," Elizabeth II said at the ceremony on board the ship in Portsmouth on England's south coast. "She will in the years and decades ahead represent the country's resolve on the global stage," she said. The ship can operate with a crew of 1,000 and 40 aircraft on deck, and measures 280 metres (919 feet) in length and weighs 65,000 tonnes.