Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince Of Wales has set off on the first leg of her new Operation Firecrest deployment to the North Atlantic and High North.
Having restocked in Scotland, the aircraft carrier has set sail for Nordic waters, accompanied by Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan and tanker RFA Tidespring.
First up will be participation in the ongoing Exercise Tamber Shield 26 off Bergen, Norway, alongside the RN’s 815 Naval Air Squadron’s Wildcat helicopters and P2000 patrol boats, and a selection of Norwegian assets.
Part of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) cooperation, the exercise, now in its fourth year, seeks to hone the skills of both navies and enhance readiness in fjord environments.
The carrier strike group (CSG) will then switch focus to NATO anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise Dynamic Mongoose, to be held in the waters of the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom-Norway (GIUK-N) Gap.
“HMS Prince of Wales stands ready as the nation’s flagship to demonstrate the United Kingdom’s commitment to NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force,” said Captain Ben Power, the flagship’s Commanding Officer.
HMS Duncan’s Commanding Officer Commander James Mitchell added: “Training alongside our allies in the North Atlantic and High North strengthens our ability to operate as an integrated and resilient force.”
“It is exciting for RFA Tidespring to play another essential role in extending the limits of the Royal Navy and NATO allies, putting training into practice and provide specialist support to the UK’s Carrier Strike Group.”
- You can read more details on the Royal Navy website