"Fond farewell" to Portsmouth-born HMS Prince of Wales Commanding Officer as successor given "warm welcome"
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The Portsmouth-born Commanding Officer of the Royal Navy flagship has stepped aside for a new successor.
Captain Ben Power will now be in charge of HMS Prince of Wales, replacing Captain Will Blackett. The 65,000 carrier is currently completing the latter stages of Operation Highmast, an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific which has taken them to Australia, Japan, India, and elsewhere.
The handover was completed after HMS Prince of Wales - in charge of the UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) - arrived in the Mediterranean and docked at Souda Bay in Crete. A social media statement said: “A fond farewell to Capt Will Blackett RN, and a warm welcome to Capt Ben Power RN.
“As Capt Blackett RN ends his chapter in Command of PWLS, so our time in Souda Bay is complete... on to the next phase of Operation Highmast.”
Cpt Blackett is from a heralded Royal Navy family where four generations have served in the force. His career overlapped with the father’s, with a total of 111 years’ collective service. Born in Portsmouth in 1982, he joined Dartmouth in 2001 as a warfare officer.
He has held several positions, including as Commanding Officer of the Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster. Speaking in January about his family serving in the Royal Navy for 100 years, he said: “Celebrating this family achievement has involved reaching back into history and learning more about my ancestors – it is quite humbling to be at the end of a line of such brilliant people and I hope I have done them proud.
“HMS Prince of Wales’ deployment this year will take me to many of the places my grandfather served – I will take his old photographs with me and look forward to retracing his steps.”
The UKCSG will be participating in future exercises alongside Nato allies before returning to Portsmouth. She is expected to come home in time for Christmas. The next stage of her deployment is Exercise Falcon Strike 25, which involves carrying out air strike drills with Italian forces.