31st July 2024 at 4:13pm
HMS Prince of Wales is due to sail out of the Princess Royal Jetty at Portsmouth Harbour on Thursday morning.
The aircraft carrier’s departure comes just two days after her sister ship HMS Queen Elizabeth returned home following four months of unscheduled work to her shaft lines in Rosyth Dockyard.
According to the King’s Harbour Master shipping movements, HMS Prince of Wales is scheduled to sail past the Round Tower in Old Portsmouth at approximately 09:55 – which you can watch live on the Forces News YouTube channel.
- Watch: Crowds greet HMS Queen Elizabeth as she arrives home after months of repairs
- Home waters protected as HMS Prince of Wales completes first phase of Steadfast Defender
- Behind the scenes of Royal Navy control centre keeping watch of turbulent Red Sea
With a tug escort alongside her, she will then proceed to the Nab Tower in the Solent at around 10:45.
In February, the 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier took part in Exercise Steadfast Defender – Nato’s biggest exercise since the Cold War.
During the Nato training, HMS Prince of Wales was joined by more than 30 ships, four submarines, multiple aircraft from maritime patrol aircraft to F-35 Lightning jets and more than 20,000 personnel from nations including Canada, Denmark, France and Spain.
HMS Queen Elizabeth had initially been scheduled to lead the exercise, but she had to withdraw due to an issue with her propeller shaft, leading HMS Prince of Wales to step in.