UK Carrier Strike Group Begins Deployment
An operational aircraft carrier capability is being restored to the Royal Navy after more than a decade with the deployment of the Queen Elizabeth.
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B is seen after its arrival aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth on May 3. The aircraft has colorful markings and wears the name of the carrier on its fins. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps)
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B is seen after its arrival aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth on May 3. The aircraft has colorful markings and wears the name of the carrier on its fins. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps)

The Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG), centered around the 65,000-tonne carrier Queen Elizabeth, has left port on schedule. Following a two-week exercise with NATO forces the CSG will head for the Mediterranean and further east on its first operational cruise. This will be the first time that the Royal Navy has undertaken an operational carrier deployment since 2010.

Queen Elizabeth left its home port at Portsmouth on the south coast of England on May 1, accompanied by Type 45 destroyers Defender and Diamond, and Type 23 frigate Kent. Another Type 23, Richmond, sailed from its base at Devonport, and the CSG is to be joined by the U.S. destroyer The Sullivans, the Dutch frigate Evertsen and an Astute-class submarine. Two Royal Fleet Auxiliaries, Fort Victoria and Tidespring, are with the CSG to supply fuel, food, and ammunition.