Royal Navy chefs have served up their first meal on board HMS Queen Elizabeth in a full test of the aircraft carrier’s galley.
The team of 26 chefs achieved the major milestone this week when the state of the art galley – the name for a ship’s kitchen – was fired up for the first time.
To properly test the equipment, a number of tasty meals were prepared and served to around 100 men and women from the Royal Navy and their industry colleagues.
The purpose of the meal was to allow the chefs to test the ovens, deep fat fryers, ranges and grills, as well as the ship’s bakery and preparation areas.
Petty Officer Caterer Paul Cummings, 36, from Bristol, said: “The trial run was a great success and it has put both chefs and the equipment in good stead for when the entire ship’s company are served their first meal on board early next year.
“In all my time as a chef in the Royal Navy I have never seen a galley the size of this one, and the range of equipment means our jobs will be made much easier when it comes time to feed the whole ship.
“It was really nice to serve up this meal to a few of our colleagues as we tested the ship’s galley, and judging by the smiles all round I think they enjoyed it too.”
HMS Queen Elizabeth, and her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales, have five dining spaces which will be used to feed their 670-strong ship’s companies when they enter service.
Lieutenant Katy Watts, 26, from Weymouth, was one of the select few who were served a meal as part of this early test of the ship’s galley.
“Every sailor in the Royal Navy will tell you how important food is to morale, so it was a real privilege to be part of the first meal on board,” Katy said.
“The food was fantastic and the size of the dining spaces on-board are really impressive.
“I think everybody here today would give top marks to the chefs.”
Work continues at a pace in Rosyth to bring HMS Queen Elizabeth to life ahead of her first entry to Portsmouth next year.
Meanwhile in Portsmouth, a £120m investment in infrastructure is preparing the base for the huge carrier’s arrival through the construction of new power facilities, a reinforced jetty and dredging works in Portsmouth Harbour.
