HMS Prince of Wales is due to lead the carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific next year and when it does so, its sister ship will undergo a period of maintenance.
It is understood that when the prospect of mothballing one of the carriers to save money was raised, as first reported by The Times, the case was made that one carrier is required on standby so that the other can sail.
The proposal to mothball a ship comes despite the fact that HMS Prince of Wales was commissioned as recently as December 2019, while HMS Queen Elizabeth was handed to the Royal Navy in 2017.
In last month’s Budget, the Chancellor gave defence a £2.9 billion uplift. However, military chiefs criticised the sum, which they said “won’t touch the sides” for what the Armed Forces needed.
While Navy sources stressed how critical the more than £6 billion carriers are to the fleet, with the RAF also making use of them, they have come under scrutiny in recent years for their respective performances.