RECAP: HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Dauntless make a glorious return to Portsmouth after Indo-Pacific deployment
Huge crowds gathered in Old Portsmouth and Gosport Harbour today (Sunday) to welcome home the Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales after her Indo-Pacific deployment in the biggest naval homecoming in 20 years.
The aircraft carrier entered Portsmouth Harbour greeted by excited crowds earlier this afternoon, with families waiting to see their loved ones at the naval base.
The £3.2bn warship is accompanied by two of her UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) escorts, HMS Dauntless and the Norwegian frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen. It was an early arrival for Dauntless which arrived at the Round Tower just before 8.45am this morning.
HNoMS Amundsen also arrived this afternoon after HMS Prince of Wales completing the trio of ships returning to Portsmouth today. The Norwegian ship will resume her journey home after the pitstop in Portsmouth.
All have been on an Indo-Pacific deployment named Operation Highmast. The eight-month operation covered 26,000 nautical miles, and saw sailors complete drills in Australia, Japan, India, South Korea and elsewhere. A number of diplomatic visits were carried out with major defence agreements signed in some cases.
Over the course of the operation, upwards of 4,500 British military personnel have been involved, including nearly 600 RAF personnel and 900 soldiers accompanying 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.
Commodore James Blackmore, UKCSG Commander, said: “It has been a privilege to lead the nearly 4,000 soldiers, sailors, aviators, and marines who have sailed over 40,000 nautical miles as part of the Strike Group, working with over 30 nations en-route.
“Last week the Defence Secretary announced that the UK Carrier Strike Group had reached full operating capability. That is a testament to the hard work both on Operation Highmast and of those who have served before us to reach this milestone. The Strike Group has come home stronger for NATO than it departed and I am incredibly proud of all those who have taken part in Operation Highmast.”
The ships were all originally due in on Monday, however tomorrow’s forecast means this was brought forward by a day.
For pictures, video and all of the highlights from the day see the live blog below!