'I hope it hasn't broken down AGAIN': Royal Navy chiefs cancel departure of £3bn warship HMS Prince of Wales at the last minute - after it was meant to take Big Lizzie's place at NATO drills

Latest issue comes a week after HMS Queen Elizabeth stalled at Portsmouth

Crowds of hundreds gathering to watch the grand departure of £3billion warship HMS Prince of Wales, ahead of the biggest NATO exercise since the Cold War, have been left bitterly disappointed after it failed to make it out of the harbour.

The 65,000-tonne Royal Navy aircraft carrier was primed and ready today to make the journey from Portsmouth Naval Base to Norway to take part in Exercise Steadfast Defender which is set to involve more than 40 ships.

This comes exactly a week on from the failed departure of the vessel’s sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth last weekend when an ‘issue’ was found with its starboard propellor coupling at the last minute.

Since then, the race has been on to replace Big Lizzie with the HMS Prince of Wales and before the big day scaffolding was removed from the aircraft carrier’s flight deck.

And it seemed like it would be full steam ahead for the 284-metre (931 foot) ship as excited bystanders lined the walls of Portsmouth Harbour to wave it off to Scandinavia.

Crowds of hundreds gathering to wave off the £3billion warship HMS Prince of Wales, ahead of the biggest NATO exercise since the Cold War, have been left bitterly disappointed after it failed to make it out of Portsmouth Harbour

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier (pictured, with HMS Queen Elizabeth) seemed ready to make the journey from Portsmouth Naval Base to Norway to take part in Exercise Steadfast Defender which will involve more than 40 ships

It appeared to be full steam ahead for the 284-metre (931 foot) ship as excited bystanders lined the walls of Portsmouth Harbour to wave it off to Scandinavia

Anticipation had been mounding as Ministry of Defence (MoD) police boats closed off the area and the mouth of the harbour was shut off to traffic.

But the carrier fell at the first hurdle with some spectators unsure as to whether it had moved out of the jetty at the naval base at all.

One punter said: ”I hope it hasn’t broken down again.’

The HMS Prince of Wales has had a frustrating recent record of setbacks.

The warship broke down off the Isle of White 18 months ago after a coupling on its 33-tonne starboard propeller malfunctioned.

The vessel was on its way to a diplomatic mission and was due to meet up with US Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and the US Marine Corps.

But after the hitch, HMS Prince of Wales had to be brought under tow back into the harbour.

Within 20 minutes of the failed attempt to leave British shores, the hundreds that had gathered for the big moment realised that it would not be setting off today and began to go their separate ways.

HMS Prince of Wales’s (pictured, foreground) comes exactly a week on from the failed departure of the vessel’s sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth (background) last weekend when an ‘issue’ was found with the starboard propellor coupling at the last minute

Anticipation had been mounding as Ministry of Defence (MoD) police boats closed off the area and the mouth of the harbour was shut off to traffic

The carrier fell at the first hurdle with some spectators unsure as to whether it had moved out of the jetty at the naval base at all

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said that sailing had been postponed but did not give a reason for the last-minute decision.

He said: ‘The aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is due to sail from Portsmouth soon, subject to suitable tide and weather conditions.

‘Any further updates on sailing times will be published on KHM Portsmouth’s shipping movements later today.’

The series of failures on consecutive weekends has raised questions over whether the Royal Navy will be able to deploy an aircraft carrier in the Red Sea amid continued attacks on merchant ships by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

A British-owned cargo vessel was attacked in the Red Sea earlier this week in what was believed to be a Houthi rebel drone strike.

The attack on the Barbados-flagged ship happened west of Hodeida in Yemen just after midnight on Tuesday, when the captain reported ‘a small craft’ had pulled up on his Port side.

Moments later, there was an explosion on the bridge which damaged the windows.

Announcing the change of plans last Sunday, Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Andrew Burns said: ‘Routine pre-sailing checks identified an issue with a coupling on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s starboard propeller shaft. As such, the ship will not sail on Sunday.

Within 20 minutes of the failed attempt to leave British shores, the hundreds that had gathered for the big moment realised that it would not be setting off today and began to go their separate ways

Announcing the change of plans last Sunday (pictured: HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth) , Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Andrew Burns said: ‘Routine pre-sailing checks identified an issue with a coupling on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s starboard propeller shaft’

A Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘On completion of initial investigations, HMS Queen Elizabeth will sail for Rosyth in Scotland so any necessary repairs can be carried out in due course’

‘HMS Prince of Wales will take her place on NATO duties and will set sail for Exercise Steadfast Defender as soon as possible.’

A Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘On completion of initial investigations, HMS Queen Elizabeth will sail for Rosyth in Scotland so any necessary repairs can be carried out in due course.

‘The cause of the issue with HMS Queen Elizabeth is wear and tear of her starboard propeller shaft coupling.’