Britain’s new flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is leading six Royal Navy ships, a Royal Navy submarine, a US Navy destroyer and a frigate from the Netherlands in the largest concentration of maritime and air power to leave the UK in a generation.
A total of nine ships, 32 aircraft, and 3,700 personnel set sail on the UK Carrier Strike Group’s maiden operational deployment. The seven–month global deployment will extend through the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean and on to the Indo–Pacific, interacting with more than one fifth of the world’s nations during its 26,000nm global tour, undertaking over 70 engagements, exercises and operations with allies and partners.
Her Majesty the Queen visited her namesake vessel before the aircraft carrier set sail from Portsmouth, meeting crew members. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also among those to visit HMS Queen Elizabeth ahead of her departure.
