Gangway for the Queen Elizabeth

Two in fact as brows for the Navy’s biggest warships were delivered to Portsmouth Naval Base to allow the ship’s company and civilian workers easy access to the carriers.

With HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales more than three times the size of their predecessors, the existing walkways between ship and shore are no use.

Unique gangways have had to be designed and built instead, courtesy of Dutch specialists Verhoef, as part of a £100m revamp of the harbour and jetties to accommodate the 65,000-tonne ships.

Weighing 12 tonnes each, the brows with telescopic gangways capable of extending 19 metres (60ft) can cope with up to 3,000 people an hour (although the ship’s companies are under 700 strong).

One will serve the crew, extending to a reception point level with the flight deck, while the second will reach up to the aircraft lift brow for use by the 500 or so civilian engineers and technicians expected to be working aboard when the carriers are alongside in the naval base undergoing maintenance.

Base staff and sailors will undergo training to use the brows before using them for real for the first time next spring when Queen Elizabeth makes her debut in Portsmouth.