Today’s naming ceremony of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth marks a major milestone in Tata Steel’s 12-year involvement in the project. In that time the company has supplied 40,000 tonnes of steel and developed three entirely new grades of lighter and stronger steel specifically for the future flagship of the Royal Navy. Tata Steel will also supply steel for the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales. The naming ceremony will come five years after the first steel was manufactured at Tata Steel’s UK plants for HMS Queen Elizabeth and 33 months after the first section of the 280 metre-long vessel entered the dry dock at Rosyth, Scotland to commence construction.