The Royal Navy is sending its flagship halfway around the world to demonstrate to the UK’s foes and allies that ‘we mean business’.
HMS Prince of Wales will lead the international Carrier Strike Group (CSG) on its way to the Indo-Pacific region after leaving the harbour at Portsmouth later today.
Thousands are expected to line the walls of the harbour and wave it off, as it prepares to join warships from Norway and Canada on an eight-month deployment titled Operation Highmast.
Along the way, the group will participate in exercises, operations and visits with 40 countries from the Mediterranean to Australia.
Commodore James Blackmore, the commander of the CSG, said the 65,000-tonne flagship will send a ‘powerful message’ when it appears over the ocean horizon on its travels.
He said: ‘It’s about supporting key trade routes that exist from the Indo-Pacific region to the UK, and supporting partners and allies in the region, showing that we are there as a capable and credible force should it be required.
‘That in a time of crisis, we can come together and fight together and show that we have a capability that we mean business with.”
The top Navy figure added: ‘Working closely with partners from across the globe, Operation Highmast will demonstrate credible deterrence and our support to Nato and the rules-based international order.
‘This will reaffirm that the UK is secure at home and strong abroad and reinforce the UK’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific.’
Among the formidable fleet will be tanker HNoMS Maud and frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen, both from Norway.
Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec, British frigate HMS Richmond and RFA Tidespring from the UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary will also join.
On top of that, a contingent of 18 F-35B jets from the UK will be added in the days after deployment, with six more joining later.
There will also be Merlin Mk2 anti-submarine helicopters from RNAS Culdrose and Merlin Mk4 Commando and Wildcat helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton, as well as T-150 Malloy and Puma drones.
In total, there will be 2,500 military personnel – about 2,100 British and 400 from Norway, Canada and Spain – making up the mammoth deployment.
Captain Will Blackett, commanding officer of HMS Prince of Wales, said his crew had been training ‘very, very hard for over a year now’, but they were now ‘good to go’.
He added: ‘I grew up in Portsmouth, I went to school about a mile away, and I sat on the Round Tower as a 10-year-old saying ‘One day, I’d like to be the captain of a warship’, and I was in the crowd watching an aircraft carrier leave.
‘Somehow, I’m about to be the captain of an aircraft carrier, leaving in front of 10-year-olds sitting at the Round Tower, and for me, it’s a momentous moment.’
First up on the CSG agenda is a Nato exercise off the coast of France to test aerial defences before the ships move to the Mediterranean to work with the Italians.
Captain Blackett said: ‘This ship is a fantastic machine, she’s got amazing equipment – state of the art – and we’re very proud to take her around the world.
‘But it only works because of the magic that’s brought to it by the people on board.’
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