The waiting is almost finished at a Clyde shipyard.
Today, the eagerly awaited next stage in the building of the planned most powerful warship to grace the Royal Navy fleet will take place.
The finishing touches were yesterday being put an 11,000-tonne hull section as it prepares for an incredible 600-mile journey.
Lower Block 04 of HMS Queen Elizabeth will be moved out of a hall at BAE Systems' Govan Shipyard in Glasgow before it is transferred on a barge to Rosyth, Fife, later this month.
The 262ft long and 131ft wide section, which houses a hospital complex, a dental surgery and 242 accommodation berths, will be moved out of the hall on more than 100 remote-controlled transporters.
The hull section will take five days to travel round the coastline to Rosyth where it will be joined up with the other sections of the ship constructed in Portsmouth.
The ship is due to be completed by 2016, with another aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, following later. They could be deployed in active service from 2017. They are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a partnership between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the Ministry of Defence. Project director Steven Carroll described it as "the largest and most powerful warship we've ever built for the Royal Navy".
Each of the carriers will be utilised by all three sectors of the armed forces and will provide a four-acre operating base which can be deployed worldwide, and will be able to be used in battle and to provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
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