"Over the next week, HMS Queen Elizabeth will be manned and ready as her crew operate the ship 24-hours a day as though she’s at sea, except for one detail: the carrier will not leave the pier at Rosyth.
The Training Cruise (also known as a ‘fast cruise’) commenced today and its purpose is to exercise a number of scenarios which the Ship’s Company may experience at sea. You’re right that the Training Cruise commenced today....
...The training provides the opportunity to measure the ship’s preparedness and is designed to get the crew into an operational mindset. Each department will accomplish this task in their own way, but all training will simulate at-sea conditions as closely as possible.
Coinciding with the tides and the booking of various tugs, it’s estimated that HMS Queen Elizabeth will sail between the 21st and 24th of this month. This has not been confirmed by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.
According to a source at Rosyth, the rumour mill supports this:
“Obviously most of us don’t know the exact time as that’ll depend on a multitude of factors but as far as I’m aware from what I’ve been told, Queen Elizabeth will sail in around two weeks.”
Another source tells us that the plan is for the vessel to depart on the 21st at noon and anchor in river. All going well, the supercarrier will sail under the bridges around 18:00, weather permitting. Again, this has not been confirmed...."
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/hms-...aining-cruise/