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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Robert Edwards & Matthew Dresch

World's biggest warship drops anchor in UK waters as Brits book visits to see it

The world's biggest warship has dropped anchor in UK waters.

The USS Gerald R. Ford arrived off the coast of Stokes Bay, Gosport, in the Solent on Tuesday.

The vessel is the first in the US Navy's new generation of Ford Class warships, HampshireLive reports.

It is so big it cannot enter Portsmouth - the historic home of the Royal Navy.

The USS Gerald R. Ford will remain anchored off Gosport until Thursday.

She arrived in The Solent at around midday on Monday, following two of her escort ships, USS Thomas Hudner and SPS Alvaro de Bazan.

Both Solent Cruises and Gosport Ferry have organised sailings over the next few days to see the enormous vessel, but all journeys have now sold out.

The USS Gerald R. Ford has dropped anchor in the Solent (PA)

It comes after the USS Gerald R Ford left Virginia, USA, and set out into the Atlantic Ocean.

The carrier cost the US more than £11bn and is the largest aircraft carrier in the world.

It's powered by two nuclear reactors and can carry more than 70 aircrafts, including deadly helicopters and jets.

The vessel is the first in the US Navy's new generation of Ford Class warships (PA)

The Atlantic deployment is due to carry 9,000 personnel from nine NATO countries, including the US, Canada, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.

Vice Admiral Dan Dwyer, Commander of the US 2nd Fleet, said: "The Atlantic is an area of strategic interest. Our primary goal is to contribute to a peaceful, stable, and conflict-free Atlantic region through the combined naval power of our Allies and partners.

"The deployment of USS Gerald R Ford's carrier strike group is the natural progression of our renewed commitment to the Atlantic."

The ship is named after the 38th President of the United States (PA)

The ship is named after the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, whose World War II naval service included time on a light aircraft carrier in the Pacific Theater.

The keel of the behemoth was laid in 2009, which is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It took until late 2013 to launch the ship.

Each aspect of the huge warship was an undertaking in its own right, for example installing the four 30-ton 6.4 m diameter bronze propellers installed, which required more than 10 months of work.

The carrier cost the US more than £11bn (PA)

UK personnel won't be aboard the ship this time. In August, the UK's brand new £3bn aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales broke down almost immediately after beginning a voyage to the US.

The ship had enjoyed a send-off by the Sugababes and was supposed to sail to America to do some military exercises with the US and Canadian Navies.

The 65,000-tonne warship instead suffered a mechanical issue and broke down, making it a little less impressive than the US Navy's terrifying new machine.

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