Hoards of people lined an Isle of Wight seafront to watch Britain’s flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth exchange gun salutes off Cowes yesterday (Tuesday).

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The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier was sailing past the Island, before returning to base in Portsmouth.

She held off Cowes and, at around 6.30pm, exchanged gun salutes with the Royal Yacht Squadron.

The fabulous spectacle formed part of Cowes Week 2024, which is now heading into its fifth day.

The gun salute was watched by both competitors at sea and members of the public on shore.

The County Press was among the crowd, filming the exchange live.

The ship returned home to Portsmouth following four months of repairs in Scotland and a short intensive spell at sea to test her systems.

Commander Alex Davies, head of the marine engineering department, said: “An enormous amount of work has taken place over the last few months to get us to this point. 

“This is at the larger end of the scale for Royal Navy Marine Engineering, and it has taken a really effective team effort from our own engineers, Defence Equipment and Support, and our Industry Partners to return us to sea.”