AN Ilkley lad has set sail on the Royal Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales.

Eighteen-year-old Engineering Technician Kian Todd sailed from Portsmouth on the 65,000 tonne leviathan having joined the Royal Navy in 2020.

The Portsmouth based sister of HMS Queen Elizabeth is spending the spring/summer on sea trials off the South Coast of England after receiving a series of upgrades and enhancements throughout 2020.

The ships have recently rendezvoused at sea for the first time and HMS Prince of Wales has now operated with the state of the art F35 Lightning 2 jet.

The former Menston St Mary’s Academy student is a marine engineering technician on HMS Prince of Wales, where he works as part of a team managing the ship’s fuel supply.

Keeping the supply clean and flowing to the ship’s engines, ensuring that they can generate enough electricity to power a town the size of Swindon.

Kian is relishing his new role and said: “I joined the armed forces because I wanted to be an engineer and now I get to be hands on every day with machinery that keep the largest ship that the Royal Navy has ever had.”

He also has no regrets about choosing a career in the Armed Forces: “My family always told me to aim high and I want to honour my parents by trying my best to make them proud with every day’s work.”