The shop - which itself cost £3billion to manufacture - was stranded in Portsmouth in December 2020
Thousands of gallons of water poured into the engine room for more than 24 hours and damaged electrics
Defence minister Jeremy Quin said making the necessary repairs to the vessel would cost £3.3million
It marked the second leak for the 65,000-tonne ship in a matter of months after anther leak happened in May
Today, the vessel set sail shortly after 3.30pm to carry out a two-week war game exercise around the UK
Two of the Royal Navy’s “Premier League” warships have left Portsmouth bound for Scotland for exercises ahead of a tour of the Indo-Pacific region.
The destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond left the naval base in Hampshire on Saturday morning ahead of the first deployment of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) next month.
Exercise Strike Warrior 21 will run from May 8 to May 20 in Scotland, with 10 nations taking part and with 31 warships, three submarines, 150 aircraft and around 13,400 military personnel involved.
HMS Defender’s ship’s company lined the deck to wave to family and friends on the quayside as the vessel left the port.