Britain's Biggest Warship - Episode Guide

It is early 2016 and sailors begin to arrive at Rosyth dockyard in Scotland where HMS Queen Elizabeth is still under construction. Captain Jerry Kyd and his 700 sailors assemble to take up their posts on the biggest warship constructed for the Royal Navy. Their mission? To take the prototype warship to sea for the first time on dangerous make or break sea trials in the North Sea.

Before sailing, the crew have to undergo rigorous fire and flood training, but suddenly they are faced with the real thing. Has the training paid off? And how will they get the supercarrier out of the dockyard sea gate with only a few centimetres clearance either side? They will also have to sail her under the Forth road and rail bridges - no easy task when HMS Queen Elizabeth is taller than both.

After eight years in build, HMS Queen Elizabeth embarks on dangerous sea trials in the North Sea. The 700 sailors on board have to test everything on the ship for the first time - from galleys to guns and from power plants to propellers. What is the super carrier's top speed? How manoeuvrable is she and how stable in rough waters? Meanwhile the ship's company start the process of becoming a sea-born community. On board is chef Mohamad Khan who has to work out how to prepare pork dishes without offending his religion; able seaman Ricky Gleeson who had 49 convictions before he was 21 and Dave Garraghty the most senior non-commissioned officer on board with a passion for car boot sales.

After four days at sea, the first aircraft lands on the flight deck and all seems well but then there is an explosion in a cooling plant, a fuel leak that sprays everyone with diesel and the ship's rubbish disposal system goes wrong. There are also strange knocking sounds coming from underneath the ship.

HMS Queen Elizabeth approaches the climax of her sea trials in the North Sea. The automatic flight deck fire fighting system is a major innovation on board but must now be tested for the first time. The new super carrier makes a special and poignant visit to Scapa Flow in the Orkneys to mark an astonishing naval centenary - it is 100 years to the day that an aircraft was successfully landed on a moving vessel but with ultimately tragic consequences. Queen Elizabeth then moves at full speed to rendezvous with American carrier USS George Bush and a major battle group of international warships.

In the US we visit the British top gun pilots training on the top secret F35b Lightening Stealth Fighter that will eventually fly off HMS Queen Elizabeth. Commander Nathan Gray, the Royal Navy's top test pilot, is preparing to land the first F35 on Queen Elizabeth's flight deck in October 2018. Meanwhile, surprising events on board the warship conspire to remind First Lieutenant Bob Hawkins of his past. He recalls bitter-sweet memories that prompt him to divulge closely held feelings about the modern navy, his shipmates on Queen Elizabeth and his fears about going to war at sea.

Kirsty and Dickie, the captain's stewards, let slip a secret about the captain that his wife must never know about. And Dani Hobbs, a 24-year-old gunnery instructor, amazes the entire ship's company with a hidden talent that lifts everyone's spirits. Eventually, the grueling sea trials over, HMS Queen Elizabeth heads south for a dramatic and emotional arrival in Portsmouth which will be her home port for the next 50 years. A few weeks later, we are privy to the ship's commissioning by her namesake - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

As she leaves her home port of Portsmouth, tens of thousands turn out to bid HMS Queen Elizabeth farewell, but as she heads over the horizon, no-one has any idea what lies ahead. Within hours a Russian warship is detected, and the British ship needs to take immediate evasive action. Later, in mid-ocean, the ship's company has to deal with floods and dangerous fuel leaks but eventually, Queen Elizabeth glides majestically into Mayport Naval Station in Florida, USA. Over a thousand British sailors flood ashore taking the local bars by storm and the police by surprise.

Eventually, the ship returns to sea for her most challenging mission to date - to land an F35B Lightning Stealth Fighter on her flight deck for the first time. It is a highly risky operation. Will it go to plan?

The next phase of flight testing for the top secret F35 jets is underway. Coping with a rolling, pitching, wind-blown deck is hard enough, but a full-blown hurricane is looming.

After five weeks at sea and on the eastern seaboard of the USA they land the state-of-the-art F35 stealth fighter in a dramatic display of flying. But this is just the beginning of the story. For the next phase of flight testing, HMS Queen Elizabeth, along with her escort and bodyguard HMS Monmouth, must test the F35 on the rolling, pitching, wind-blown flight deck in all weathers and wind strengths. The captain, Jerry Kyd, has to seek out stronger and stronger winds to push the aircraft to its limits but is then confronted by a massive full-blown hurricane heading straight for him. Does he run for it or does he hunker down? After consulting with his commanders, he decides to stay put and the ship braces for impact.

In the midst of hurricane-driven seas, the F35 is tested almost to destruction. Meanwhile, HMS Queen Elizabeth must take on 1,000 tons of fuel from a tanker in a raging ocean in an operation called Replenishment at Sea – the most dangerous thing a warship can do short of battle itself.

It is not just the flight team who are responsible for the testing of the aircraft - each of the 1,500 members on board has a part to play in this vital deployment. And all life is here. This episode meets the captain's personal steward, who confesses to his own violent past before he joined the Royal Navy, and discovers what happened to a young Marine engineer who went missing on port leave.

After three months at sea, the test pilots from the Royal Navy and RAF have successfully landed the F35 jets on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time, and even tested launching and landing in hurricane conditions. But with just a few weeks to go before the warship arrives in New York in spectacular style, they are about to try a method of landing never attempted before, which carries great risks but could revolutionise carrier operations globally.