🕒 Created

HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail for three-month training deployment around the UK and northern Europe

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth departed Portsmouth Naval Base on Saturday to begin a three-month training programme around the UK and northern Europe. The vessel, which was commissioned into service in 2017, will carry a crew of more than 800 sailors to conduct intensive training and operations with allied nations. This deployment marks the vessel's first official sailing as Nato's command ship for the Allied Response Force. The carrier will rehearse how an allied naval force would operate together in the event of a crisis to enhance collective security, deterrence, and readiness. The training programme will continue into next year, preparing the vessel to take over from HMS Prince of Wales as the Royal Navy's flagship and high-readiness strike carrier in late 2027. Captain Claire Thompson, the commanding officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth, stated that the crew returned from summer leave rested and ready for the next phase of training. She described the deployment as a key milestone for both the Nato commitment and the journey back to the vessel's role as a high-readiness aircraft carrier.

Sources

Paywall and unreadable sources