Royal Navy: HMS Prince of Wales to return to Portsmouth on Sunday - timings revealed
It will be an emotional occasion as sailors return home to Portsmouth on the Royal Navy flagship on Sunday - with timings now revealed.
HMS Prince of Wales is due to return to Portsmouth harbour on Sunday morning at 11.40am before making her way to the Outer Spit Buoy at 12.30pm. Thousands of people are expected to line The Hot Walls, with families waiting to see their loved ones at the naval base.
The £3.2bn warship will be accompanied by two of her UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) escorts, HMS Dauntless and HNoMS Roald Amundsen. Dauntless is due at the Outer Spit Buoy at 8am and Amundsen is due there at 3pm.
She has been on her 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.Various 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.”