HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group are in waters off South Korea for joint training exercises with South Korean forces.

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, Commander UK Carrier Strike Group, said in a video posted on Twitter on Monday:

“The United Kingdom, like the Republic of Korea, is an outward-looking trading nation committed to contributing to maritime security, which underpins global prosperity. By sailing here, we make clear our determination to work with like-minded nations in support of an open and transparent system of international rules,” he said. “Our aim is to strengthen the ties between our two countries and to pave the way for closer cooperation in the future.”

The carrier also tweeted the following:

The aircraft carrier had planned a port call in the southeastern city of Busan, but the plan was called off due to the COVID-19 situation.

What is the UK Carrier Strike Group doing?

HMS Queen Elizabeth is the deployed flag ship for Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21), a deployment that will see the ship and her escorts sail to the Asia-Pacific and back.

CSG21 will see the ship along with the Strike Group work with over 40 countries from around the world. The Strike Group will operate and exercise with other countries Navies and Air Forces during the 7 month deployment.

The Carrier Strike Group includes ships from the United States Navy, the Dutch Navy, and Marines from the US Marine Corps. As well as British frigates, destroyers, a submarine, two RFA supply ships and air assets from 617 Sqn, 820 NAS, 815 NAS and 845 NAS. This is the largest deployment of Fifth Generation Fighter Jets at sea in history.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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20 COMMENTS

    • And a lot less cocktail parties! Presumably Yokosuka is now the next port of call for Big Lizzie, but with a lot of Covid-19 restrictions. Maybe Singapore will be back on the agenda for a visit in late September/early October, but it must all very disappointing for CSG-21 crews. Guam may end up being the highlight for QE.

  3. I have some South Korean friends and everyone I tell them about the carrier operations in there area they already know saying it’s been on the news etc. As an aspiring carrier nation this I hope helps them having the uk carrier near by. Hopefully they have some officers aboard etc to see how useful this kind of ship grouping could be to them.
    South Korea is a country living with the threat of a massive and devastating strike from the north. While the south may win out overall the death and destruction would be horrific. Or if the north collapses they have a massive refugee crisis to deal with. While China wants to keep the north going as is, I don’t know how much support they are prepared to give and how far they will go to keep the Kim’s going.

    • It’s always been a a thorny one, as you say either a devastating war, that would likely kill a million plus, or outright collapse of the North..

      Either way, China and South Korea would both have a severe headache to deal with….

      Re the QE class, I am sure the Japanese and South Korea have visited and observed F35B flight operations with great interest….

      Extremely useful for them.

    • I guess it must be Busan being a port city; haven’t heard a word on the news about the carrier group here in Seoul. Although I agree with your take on the NK danger, especially due to the chemical and biological weapons threat, another major factor in South Korea’s plan to develop a light aircraft carrier is the historical distrust of Japan. President Moon simply does not want to be “out-shined” by Japan, who have light carrier aspirations of there own. Additionally, South Korea’s increasing economic presence means it has global interests…exports shipping routes must be secure and oil imports from the Middle East maintained.

      • I do play a war game with my South Korean friends so maybe they take a bit more interest or look a bit further than general news in navy matters etc.
        My best hope for the north would be that it gradually opens up and gets the benefits of a world community/rise in living standards year on year and with that the elite and ruling family see there isn’t that much to fear from the outside world. It’s so delicate to get right and my feeling is China isn’t really interested in making things better for the people, only really to keep a buffer between them and the south. If that involves propping up Kim then so be it

    • Saw this, how does one going about telling a drone it’s in sovereign airspace and has to change course? If It has no sensors to physically see the intercepting aircraft or pick up short distance radio frequencies to follow the commands from the interceptor. Without blowing it out of the sky what options are there? this could start to become a big issue world wide.

  6. I read that an Astute had to dock in South Korea for some reason. Spotters said it was HMS Artful, not the expected Astute.

    It’s clear we can’t deploy a CSG without significant allied base support.

  8. I note less 3 RN ships, Diamond still in Italy for repairs, Richmond in Guam following repairs and now Kent in Japan for short maintenance, meaning repairs. That is a lot of missile rails and ASW capability missing. Is that why the Sullivan and Evertsen were included. I know it has been a long cruise but this is a sorry state re ability to project force in the future as part of the new Defense Strategy!

    • It has been reported that HMS Diamond sailed from Taranto this morning. What’s that, some 5-6 weeks alongside for repairs! Either no spares immediately available, or a far more serious failure then first thought, possibly both.
      It does appear that time is catching up with our T23’s, they have been run hard over the years, which doesn’t bode well for our T26’s as we’ve only ordered the 8? Yes we are getting 5 T31’s but, 13 frigates doesn’t appear to be enough for all our tasking!
      What impact the T32’s will have on tasking remains to be seen.

      • Perhaps given the lack of port visits someone has thrown a spanner in the works to get some shore time…but in all seriousness the situation is dire. If it’s going to be small numbers need to work them hard for 20 years and then turn them over. Reliability is key to a small globally dispersed fleet.

        • Yes, and as others have speculated previously, perhaps the plan is to sell them off after 15-20 yrs and buy replacements thus keeping shipbuilding in the country going!

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