The Royal Navy’s flagship HMS Prince of Wales is to set sail to the Indo-Pacific as head of an international Carrier Strike Group with the aim of sending a “powerful message that we mean business”.
The £3 billion aircraft carrier will lead UK, Norwegian and Canadian warships for the eight-month deployment to join exercises, operations and visits with 40 countries across the Mediterranean, Middle East, south-east Asia, Japan and Australia.
Thousands of families and well-wishers are expected to line the harbour walls at Portsmouth on Tuesday (April 22) to wave off the 65,000-tonne warship, which will be accompanied from the navy base by Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless.
They will then be joined by two Norwegian vessels – tanker HNoMS Maud and frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen – as well as the UK and Canadian frigates HMS Richmond and HMCS Ville de Quebec, which are sailing from Plymouth.
The support vessel Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Tidespring will make up the final ship in the Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which will involve other ships and nations during the deployment called Operation Highmast.
A contingent of 18 UK F-35B jets will join the carrier in the days after departure, with that number increasing to 24 during the deployment.
Also joining will 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.
Commodore James Blackmore, CSG commander, said the deployment would send a “powerful message” of the UK’s naval and air power.
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.”
He 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.”
A total of 2,500 military personnel – about 2,100 British, 400 from Norway, Canada and Spain – will initially deploy as part of the CSG, with the numbers rising to 4,500 for the major exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.
Captain Will Blackett, commanding officer of HMS Prince of Wales, said: “We have been training very, very hard for over a year now, and we’re good to go.
“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.”
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.”
Leading Engineering Technician (LET) Josh Thompson, 29, from Barnstable, Devon, said: “Personally, it’s something to be pretty proud of, it’s something that doesn’t come round very often, seeing stops in places that most people don’t see.
“And then also being a part of the bigger picture hopefully for the future of the UK and the world.”
ET John Davis, 24, from Oxford, said: “I’m really excited to be honest, I’m quite proud of the fact I’ll be doing it.”
The CSG’s first task will be to join a Nato exercise off France testing aerial defences before the ships move on to the Mediterranean to work with an Italian-led carrier force and then heading east via the Red Sea.
This is the second CSG deployment to the Indo-Pacific, with the previous one led by HMS Prince of Wales’ sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, in 2021.
