The ship has a length of 280 meters and can carry 36 F-35B fighters

The huge British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on her visit to Rota for an exercise

This Thursday, June 9, the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales arrived at the Rota Naval Base, in Spain, on the occasion of the Flotex 22 exercise.

El ensamblaje del portaaviones HMS Prince of Wales de la Royal Navy a cámara rápida
Así es un zafarrancho de vuelo con aviones EAV-8B Harrier II en el buque Juan Carlos I

This exercise is organized by the Spanish Navy and naval forces from five countries participate in it. HMS Prince of Wales is currently the flagship of the NATO Response Force Task Force.

Designated R09, HMS Prince of Wales is currently the Royal Navy's largest warship, alongside her sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08). The R09 was launched in 2017 and began active service with the British Navy on December 10, 2019.

The two Queen Elizabeth-class ships are recognizable as having two islands, instead of the single island that is usual for all other aircraft carriers. The island located closest to the bow is for the steering of the ship, while the second island, called FLYCO (Flying Control Position) has the mission of controlling all air operations on the ship.

The reasons for this configuration range from an enlargement of the flight deck area to better control of it from the FLYCO, as well as a reduction in turbulence on the flight deck and a better distribution of spaces on the lower decks.

The HMS Prince of Wales is a huge ship: it is 280 meters long, 39 meters beam at the waterline and 73 meters beam on the flight deck. Her displacement is 65,000 tons, more than double that of the Spanish aircraft carrier "Juan Carlos I" L-61. In the image below we can see the R09 and the L-61 together in Rota, an image that gives an idea of the dimensions of each one.

The minimum crew of HMS Prince of Wales is 700 people, which increases to 1,600 when all its aircraft are on board. In total, the British vessel can carry to 36 SVOTL F-35B Lightning II fighters and four AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin helicopters.

This is the second visit of a Queen Elizabeth class ship to Spain, since the R08 made a stopover in Rota in December last year on the occasion of its deployment with the Carrier Strike Group 21 of the US Navy.

During this visit, the commander of HMS Prince of Wales, Captain Richard Hewitt, received on board commanders of the Spanish Navy and civil authorities -in this photo we see him giving a metope from his ship to the Admiral of the Spanish Navy Fleet, Admiral Eugenio Díaz del Río-, and was also received at the Rota Naval Base by the Navy.

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Photos: Armada Española / Royal Navy / HMS Prince of Wales.

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