HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group are off to Scotland for Exercise Strike Warrior.

HMS Diamond will be first away at 0800; HMS Queen Elizabeth last at 1545, either side of HMS Defender and Kent.

Head of Naval Base Operations, Steve Hopper, said in a news release from the Royal Navy:

“We are, encouragingly, slightly ahead of schedule. Whilst two months ago I was having sleepless nights worried that it wouldn’t happen, the people in the base, the people who man the gates, the chaperones who escort the lorries, the jetty managers, crane operators, security and everyone else involved have delivered and the ships will be fully stored and ready to go as planned for which I thank everyone in Team Portsmouth.”

After the exercise, the deployment to the Indo-Pacific will take place. You can read more about that here.

The carrier strike group deployment is the first operational deployment by a Royal Navy aircraft carrier for more than a decade, and will take in visits to 40 countries as it makes its way through the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and into the Pacific to return home around seven months later.

HMS Prince of Wales is also at sea, stay tuned for a 130,000 tonne photo opportunity.

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

60 COMMENTS

  1. Great to see both carriers about to be at sea. I hope the HMS Warrior webcam is pointing in the right direction for departure 3-4pm.

  2. Does anyone know if the documentary team will be on board? There was talk of them filming the deployment, but I haven’t seen of heard anything recently.

    Cheers CR

    • 🎶🎶The truth this we’ll never forgive you.
      All through your wild rants….your mad invasions. 🎶🎶

        • Thats a bit twee and counts in sports, but not I would say in war, or anything that involves death and dismemberment.

          When people have died all you can have is slow reconciliation and for that you do actual need the belligerent side to admit the other sides right to self determination and to be able to live the way they choose.

          • I’m not sure how that does not make it twee. Look at what actually happened at the end of after WW2.I’m pretty sure we dismantled every vestige of the regime’s we were at war with, grinding them to dust ( well beyond the actual point of victory) as well as dividing Germany into two separate half’s and executing every individual we identified as war criminals.

          • As Michael Cheka, the former Australian rugby coach, said after England stuffed them. ‘Look mate, shit happens and sometimes you just have to suck it up’! As Churchill wouldn’t have said! If you still think that it is twee, that’s fair enough….there are plenty that think the words resonate down the ages!

          • Herodotus, just because a few words may resound down the ages it does not stop them being twee. By is very nature A free twee words do tend to “resonate down the ages”. After aII a great part of being twee is pretty sentimentality and that always tends to connect. So don’t get me wrong words can be lovely things, but to think a few lines can encompass something as complex as both the individual and national gestalt around something as psychologically damaging as War is…well a bit twee.

            Ive spent a lot of time speaking to veterans of WW2 and their feeling were complex and varied around the protagonists. Many held what I would say was a particular hatred for a specific protagonist. I remember one guy asking me “ was I German, because I hate Germans” another had a particular hatred of the Japanese, one polish guy actual could not stand the Russians, so I’m not sure Magnanimity actual survives conflict, horror and someone trying to steel your county.

          • Wouldn’t it have been easier to just say ‘I got it wrong’? Churchill was writing about a better world for the future….his missives were ‘aspirational’…this is what he hopes for! To call his words twee is to dismiss him and half of the Christian world and its values. I’m sure that you have met plenty of people who know how to hate….so have I, and I have always felt deeply sorry for them. Churchill despised cheap jingoism and I agree with him…its an insult to all those Argentinians that died in a conflict not of their making!

          • No Geoff…..the quote is:

            In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity; in peace, good will.
            It’s a lovely morning here by the way!

          • Thanks Herodotus. Also here-24 deg now but chilly evenings. And on the subject of Winston-two quick ones. First-I visited the site of the Armoured Train incident near Estcourt in KZN in July 1963. It occured to me then, that the great man was still alive!! Two-after England My England try “Young Winston”. Simon Ward, Robert Shaw and the delectable Anne Bancroft

          • Hi Geoff, I’ve seen the young Winston film…..always thought that he was a somewhat irresponsible young man. Fortunately he matured into perhaps the greatest figure of the C20th. It was never a certainty that he would achieve greatness. He was considered a maverick by his contemporaries. Had it not been for the war, he may have passed by as a minor and somewhat inconsequential figure. ‘Time and chance happeneth to all men’ Ecclesiastes!

  3. I’ve just said well done Pompey on the other post but what the hell…well done Pompey. Brilliant pictures.

  4. Just come across this on the irish media: Any clues:
    Nuclear submarine surfaces off Irish coast
    “The huge submarine spotted off the coast of Co. Donegal today may have been carrying nuclear warheads – but probably wasn’t. The sighting of the submarine was made by personnel on board the Marine Institute vessel the RV Celtic Explorer early on Thursday morning…However, not all submarines are the same. The length of this particular vessel was believed to be 150m or more, making it most likely that it is a vanguard class belonging to the United Kingdom.
    https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/4875/2437724_4_articlelarge_Image_20210429_155206.jpeg
    However, the naval source said it could potentially have been a Russian or American vessel, although with Nato exercises recently taking place off the northern coast of Scotland, it is most likely that it was British. Such a vessel is equipped to carry nuclear warheads, but it’s thought this particular submarine wasn’t doing so. “If they were packing nuclear warheads they would be deep in UK waters,” the naval source said. “They won’t be surfacing and visible from Malin.” All reported sightings of submarines are notified to Irish authorities but since this vessel was well outside the 12-mile range, it means it was outside Irish territorial waters.
    https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40278005.html

  5. A great sight to behold after all these years. The MoD still needs to beef up the aircraft inventory. At least they have two good carriers to put 60-70 aircraft on.

  6. To get these vessel’s to sea, and prepared for an 8 month deployment takes an astonishing amount of planning. The logistics involved is immense, and another example of why operate aircraft carriers is so demanding. It’s emotional rollercoster ride in the days leading up to leaving the wall. 🇬🇧

    • It isn’t just difficult for a carrier. Its difficult for all units big and small.
      Frigates and destroyers need to ensure all their gear will last through the trip… Things like load testing lifting equipment and Ammo.Make sure the high usage spares are on board and printer paper… You can never have enough printer paper!!!

      For a real fun 7 month trip try embarking 200 Royal and a deck full of vehicles on an LPD along with LCU, LCVP all the Ammo for exercises and a shed load of nutty and pot noodles to keep Royal happy!

      • I used to enjoy the pot noodle machine back on Invincible. Got me through many a red eye watch 😆

  7. Anyone seeing a lot of buffering from the Warrior webcam? Just when we want to savour the big moment!

  8. For those struggling to watch HMS Queen Elizabeth leave on the Warrior webcam there is an alternative here.

    Cheers CR

    • Thanks. Watched it complete with USMC on deck and little sailing boats swanning around as if nothing was happening. Then navy ribs shoot off to get them out of the way. Oh well, it’s a free country I guess.

  9. I read somewhere that the USN destroyer accompanying the Task Group was there to fill a vital gap in air defence lacking in the Type 45’s!?? I thought they were the worlds best with the power to defend a target the size of London alone?? Can anyone fill in the detail here?

    • Others will know better but if there is a gap they want covered it would probably be anti ballistic capability. Probably more to do with multi national optics. P

    • I doubt that is the case,the USN is joining the Deployment as a Vital Ally and Friend,it will add to AAW certainly but not to cover a specific gap in capability.

  10. Well I waved them off, did anyone else ? Such an impressive sight, shame about the journey home though.

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