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HMS Prince of Wales was only a few miles out of Portsmouth Harbour when the £3.2bn leviathan suffered a mechanical failure on Saturday afternoon.

Engineers have been scrambled to work out what is wrong with the mighty warship - which is the biggest vessel ever built for the Royal Navy.

However, plans are now being discussed by ministers and top brass at navy command as to whether or not HMS Queen Elizabeth should take over the mission to the States instead, a defence source has told The News.

The aircraft carrier had already been earmarked to leave Portsmouth on September 9 for operations in and around Scotland.

Ministers and military chiefs are expected to come to a decision about whether to deploy the 65,000-tonne behemoth in the next 24 or 36 hours.

It comes ahead of an expected announcement by Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse, soon, giving an update on the repair work for HMS Prince of Wales.

Meanwhile, dockyard workers and sailors at Portsmouth Naval Base have been alerted to continue preparations for HMS Queen Elizabeth’s departure - covering all eventualities.

A defence source told The News that leaders were continuing to look at what to ‘prioritise’ for the ship.

‘Discussions over where and what she does are still being held at a ministerial level,’ the insider said.

The source added it was ‘not inevitable’ the ship would tag-in for HMS Prince of Wales but said ‘it was right’ there was a ‘buzz’ in the dockyard about the possibility of Queen Elizabeth crossing the Atlantic.

If she is deployed, it will be the latest trip for the carrier, which visited New York in 2018 and carried out F-35 trials in 2019.

A spokesman for the Royal Navy told The News: ‘Diving inspections on HMS Prince of Wales' starboard shaft have shown that a shaft coupling has failed.

‘We are looking at the best way to carry out what will be a complex repair and assessing options for the delivery of Royal Navy outputs against current priorities and future commitments and will update in due course.’