Work has officially started on two of the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy.

A goliath crane swung into action, signalling the beginning of the construction on the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. Goliath, one of Europe’s biggest cranes, is preparing to lift the first sections of the 65,000-tonne vessels into place at Babcock’s shipyard later this week.

The construction project is said to be worth billions of pounds to the Scottish economy and will create and sustain thousands of jobs.

The vessels are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, made up of the Ministry of Defence Babcock, BAE Systems and Thales.

Construction is already under way at six shipyards across the UK, meaning the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier programme is sustaining thousands of skilled jobs throughout the industry.

Bernard Gray, the MoD’s chief of defence material, said: “The Queen Elizabeth Class is a hugely important project for MoD and for the UK’s shipbuilding industry.

“I’m very pleased at this impressive progress on the construction and assembly of first of class.”

Each carrier will have nine decks, a flight deck the size of three football pitches, and two propellers weighing 33 tonnes, almost two-and-a-half times as heavy as a double-decker bus, which will drive the ship at a maximum speed of more than 25 knots.

The vessels will be the foundation of Britain’s ability to project military power overseas and will be used for operations ranging from providing air support in conflict zones to humanitarian aid and disaster relief.