Royal Navy

The Queen was in Portsmouth today for an official ceremony marking the hand over to the Royal Navy of the most expensive vessel in its history.

The Queen names the Royal Navy aircraft carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, at the navy dockyard in Rosyth. At 65,000 tonnes, it is the biggest warship ever built in the United Kingdom.

Britain is not alone in waiting with baited breath for a visit from the royal stork. Baby mania has hit the US, with the prospect of the Niagara Falls being lit up when the birth is announced.

Overjoyed at the prospect of returning to the UK for Christmas, HMS Ocean’s crew decided to make a festive video to the tune of Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You.

A leaked classified memo suggests 16,500 army personnel, including as many as 2,500 wounded soldiers, could be made redundant by April 2015. The MoD has rejected the information as “incorrect”.

Former defence secretary Liam Fox says his treatment by some sections of the media has been characterised by “personal vindictiveness, even hatred”.

As more than 1,000 Navy personnel are told they are to be made redundant, Defence Secretary Liam Fox is criticised for suggesting that defence chiefs are partly to blame for the cutbacks.

As events are held throughout the UK to mark Armed Forces Day, Channel 4 News learns there is growing disquiet over the effect of budget cuts on morale within the British Army.

As the ceremonial military get ready for the Royal Wedding, thousands of police officers begin a London-wide operation to make sure there are no threats to security.

A shooting on board the HMS Astute submarine in Southampton leaves one crewmember dead and another seriously hurt. Channel 4 News learns the leader of the council helped disarm the gunman.

A shooting on board nuclear-powered submarine HMS Astute in Southampton has left one crewmember dead and another seriously hurt.

As redundancies are announced in the army and navy and the head of the RAF says his service is ‘at full stretch’, Channel 4 News hears calls to re-open the Strategic Defence Spending Review.

As the MOD reveals that it is putting the HMS Ark Royal up for auction, Channel 4 News learns that one the likeliest destinations is a scrap metal yard.

Libya becomes the first member state to be suspended by the UN Human Rights Council after a day of tension and the prospect of military action and civil war, as our Correspondents in Libya report.

Former military chiefs heavily criticise the Government over planned defence cuts, saying they will seriously effect UK naval capabilities.