IT is 1,092 feet long, weighs 100,000 tonnes, can carry 80 combat aircraft and nearly 6,000 sailors.

The gigantic USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall, has an enormous four-and-a-half acre flight deck and can bring a 150mph plane to a stop in less than 400 feet.

From later today the massive vessel will be anchored off the Hampshire coast for five days.

Council bosses are hoping it will wow tourists and residents alike when it is moored off Stokes Bay in Gosport from tomorrow until Friday.

The ship towers the equivalent of 20 storeys above the water and is so big that it cannot enter Portsmouth harbour during the first stop on its round-the-world trip.

John Gibbs, tourism officer at Gosport Borough Council, hopes the enormous vessel will attract plenty of curious onlookers.

He said: “From my understanding the Royal Navy take the sailors out to see the area so hopefully they will visit the naval museum on our side of the harbour.

“Residents can do a spot of sailing and watersports and go on a yacht if they want to get a really close look.”

The visit comes less than a month after a Moscow general warned the country’s military will continue “buzzing” flights in the channel.

Daily Echo:

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, RAF jets were scrambled to intercept and escort pairs of Tupolev Tu-95s, known as the Russian Bear, when they were detected off the British coast.

Former armed forces head Lord Stirrup said: “We are seeing the possibility of mid-air collision – not between RAF and Russian aircraft but between Russian aircraft and civilian aircraft – increasing.”

More than 5,000 sailors are expected to spill into the port during the trip, which is part of a partnership between the Royal Navy and US on carrier operations.

Among the 5,226 crew are six Royal Navy aircraft handlers who are honing their skills ahead of serving aboard the first of the new carriers.

Admiral Sir George Zambellas, the Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord, said that the common bond between the US and UK had “never been richer”.