Behemoth welcomed into Navy by Queen

Britain's 65,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth cost $6.07b to build. Photo / Andrew Linnett

More than 70 years ago, then 18-year-old Princess Elizabeth launched her first warship — the battleship Vanguard, the last of its kind to serve in the Royal Navy.

On Friday, aged 91, the Queen commissioned Britain's biggest warship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, into the Royal Navy.

The Queen said the £3.1 billion ($6.07b) vessel "embodies the best of British technology and innovation, a true flagship for the 21st century".

She praised the service personnel who will crew the carrier named after Elizabeth I, saying: "As the daughter, wife and mother of naval officers, I recognise the unique demands our nation asks of you."

A few hundred metres away was Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, a vessel she said was a reminder of the "debt we owe to the Royal Navy, which for more than 500 years has protected the people of this country and our interests around the world".

HMS Queen Elizabeth will not carry out its first mission until 2021, after sea trials.

At 280m long and with an estimated 50-year working life, the behemoth aircraft carrier is the biggest and most powerful warship built by the UK. Its crew of about 700 will grow to 1600 once the full complement of F-35B jets and Crowsnest helicopters are embarked.

The Navy has not had an aircraft carrier since HMS Illustrious was scrapped in 2014.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones said that now it had one Britain could "flex our muscles globally".