THE Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is at anchor off the Isle of Wight ahead of its ‘landmark mission' to the United States.

The 900ft warship is currently anchored just over six nautical miles off Ventnor.

Divers are inspecting the carrier after damage was reported to the propeller shaft, according to Navy Lookout.

This potential issue follows a long line of technical problems for the carrier, which has a crew of around 1,600.

Isle of Wight County Press: Courtesy of VesselFinder.Courtesy of VesselFinder.

The 65,000-tonne warship had been conducting manoeuvres off the east coast of the Island, before making the planned journey across the Atlantic.

HMS Prince of Wales had left Portsmouth to journey to the US on a ‘landmark mission to shape the future of stealth jet and drone operations off the coast of North America and in the Caribbean’.

As the Sugababes performed, the vessel was sent off by Victorious festival-goers on Southsea Common yesterday (Saturday).