HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group are heading north through the Suez Canal on the return leg of their global deployment.
https://twitter.com/geoallison/status/1460550502819811338
HMS Richmond, a Type 23 Frigate assigned to HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Carrier Strike Group, was the first vessel to enter into the Mediterranean Sea on the return leg of the deployment.
The Strike Group will travel over 26,000 nautical miles from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea, and from the Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea and then back again. The vessels will engage with 40 countries.
Besides HMS Richmond, the Strike Group comprises aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond (although this ship has had recent issues), Type 23 anti-submarine frigate HMS Kent, and tanker and storage ships Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring. In Addition, there’s an Astute class submarine and a Dutch frigate.
You can read more about what the Carrier Strike Group has been up to by visiting the link below.
This deployment will end in December 2021.
Nice to see each ship has its own tug!
Iirc it’s a requirement (nice little earner).
With the gully gully man one of the Boats in our MCM squadron wound up with a couple of Chickens Scrawny looking things when hatched , stacks of tacky trinkets real Rolexs watches that didn’t pass 30mtrs in the Dive Pot
Well done everybody soon be home for some well earned R&R after a long deployment. You have done us proud.
Looking forward to the BBC programme hopefully early in 2022.
Cheers CR
Scheduled to be back in Portsmouth around the 8th December.
Still some more work to do before home on the 8th, A Black Sea mission to give the russkis a challenging time!
For anyone wondering (and before the ‘breakdown’ comments) – the AIS for Defender has been spoofed, again. It’s likely to be Diamond, as Defender is currently visiting Jordan.
I am so proud of our navy. A great deployment so far. This is ‘Global Britain’ in action. I am sure our Allies, especially the Americans, will consider that we are a worthy friend and ally in the maritime environment, and can really do power projection in a credible and efffective way. Now, just got to get the army’s capability and reputation up to snuff.
That might take a while. The army is in a rubbish state and seems to be piss poor led. Lions led by donkeys never was more true. Ajax… expensive disaster. Warrior upgrade….expensive disaster. Challenger 3….too few being upgraded.
Mr Wallace needs to get all this crap going on in Army procurement by the proverbial balls and fix it up man! Leadership required from the very top!!
Many people have served and died for the UK and it Allies and the freer world and still do. The British army deserves way better than this!
The Army needs root and branch change on the level of the Childers Reforms. Back to square one and across the board as the endless tinkering we’ve seen in the last couple of decades has just made everything progressively worse.
Amen to that.
Yes, a second amen.
Always welcome in the Pacific , we’d be thrilled see a carrier visit to AUS and NZ!
More Klonkie.Hoe gaan dit met jou? I always thought that the narrows of the Suez canal presented a dangerous passage for the big ships of the Task force. Better to take the long route around the Cape and pop into Durbs for a few Castles, a Bunny Chow and a lekker chick 😂
Plenty of space here in Sydney and Auckland harbour’s…lol. I’d like to see AUS get a medium sized aircraft carrier with F-35Bs too, maybe something like the recent Korean designs alongside their new subs.
Hi Quentin. are not your french flat tops adaptable to carry f35’s? You have the ski ramp already…!
Oops-Spanish flat tops!
Good to see. On way home. Very impressive maiden deployment.
Would love to see here in AUS – went on board Invincible, Illustrious and Ark Royal when they visited Fremantle, it’s been too long.