Massive crowd sees off HMS Prince of Wales as carrier leaves Portsmouth for CSG 25

Tim Cooper

22nd April 2025 at 2:00pm

HMS Prince of Wales has set sail from Portsmouth Harbour to the sound of cheering crowds as she heads out to sea to lead Carrier Strike Group 2025.

She’s on an eight-month mission to demonstrate UK and allied collective resolve and determination to maintain security and freedom from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Between now and December, the Carrier Strike Group (CSG 25) will conduct a series of exercises and operations with air, sea and land forces of a dozen allies in the Mediterranean, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Japan and Australia.

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Some family members had been waiting since the early hours to see off their loved ones.

One lady explained that she had been staying at a campsite but had shifted to a location nearer the seafront.

“We thought we’d come over here and sleep on the street so we can get an early spot, but in a camper van,” she said.

She said being an early bird had been worth the effort, adding: “We’ve got one of the prime spots here, and we’ve just found out that our lad’s going to be on the top, in his number ones, which we weren’t expecting.”

Defence Secretary John Healey said the CSG was an “immensely complex operation” and thanked the personnel involved in Operation Highmast.

“This is a unique opportunity for the UK to operate in close co-ordination with our partners and allies in a deployment that not only shows our commitment to security and stability,” Mr Healey said. “But, [the CSG] also provides an opportunity to bolster our own economy and boost British trade and exports.

“As one of only a handful of countries in the world able to lead a deployment of this scale, the Royal Navy is once again demonstrating its formidable capability while protecting British values and sending a powerful message of deterrence to any adversary.”

A contingent of 18 UK F-35B jets will join the carrier in the days after departure, with that number increasing to 24 during the deployment.

The F-35Bs that operate from HMS Prince of Wales are a mix of Royal Navy and RAF units, and one father said: “My son’s sailing out today.

“He’s based in [RAF] Marham with 617 Squadron working with the F-35s. Got down there at 07:00 this morning. Just wanted to make sure we got a good spot. You snooze, you lose.”

HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship, will sail alongside HMS Dauntless, HMS Richmond and an Astute-class submarine, which will shield her from any danger. 

The 65,000-tonne vessel will be heading to the Indo-Pacific and onwards to Australia during the deployment. 

Some 2,500 personnel – around 2,100 British personnel, and 400 from Norway, Canada, and Spain – will initially deploy as part of the CSG, and the personnel will increase to 4,500 in the Indo-Pacific region.

These families, who have been separated from their loved ones, will have to wait for a while as the personnel will be away for seven-and-a-half months. 

Another man said: “Our daughter Meghan is on the ship, so it’s our last opportunity to see her for a few months, so [we’re] very proud to be down here.

“This is our second time here, so we know it gets very crowded. We’ve got our coffee. We’ve got our croissants, and we’ve got our banner – an eight-foot banner. We’re good to go!”

Spectators at the departure waved flags and banners from Portsmouth Harbour’s beach and walls as the vessel sailed past.

Gemma McConnell was with her children, Lachlan, seven, and Chloe, four, to see off Surgeon Commander David McConnell. 

The 42-year-old from Plymouth said: “You’ve got to believe in the Navy to be a Navy wife, a proper part of it.

“It doesn’t ever make me sad when he goes away, because I think it’s an adventure, he gets to see the world, he’s getting to be with amazing people, and it just gives me an enormous sense of pride.”

Viv Pyatt, 61, came from Probus, near Truro, Cornwall, to watch her son, Able Seaman Harry Pyatt, 24, go on deployment.

She revealed that it had been an emotional send-off and added: “We all had a few tears, even my son, he had a few tears, but he’s got a girlfriend on board, so I think they’ll look after each other, so they’ll be fine.”

Submarine-hunter HMS Richmond and Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec set sail from Plymouth to join CSG 25 earlier in the day.

Making up the rest of the Carrier Strike Group initially are air defence destroyer HMS Dauntless from Portsmouth, two Norwegian vessels, the tanker HNoMS Maud and frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen, which are coming directly from Norway, and tanker/support ship RFA Tidespring.

The ensign on the flight deck of HMS Prince of Wales was at half-mast as a mark of respect for the late Pope, a Royal Navy spokesman said.

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