After a mammoth voyage travelling so far as Australia and Japan, HMS Prince of Wales and its provider strike group have safely returned house to the UK.
Their arrival house after seven months completes the Provider Strike Group 25 (CSG 25) deployment, which was codenamed Operation Highmast. Throughout the 223 days since HMS Prince of Wales’ departure from Portsmouth on Apr. 22, 2025, the CSG has labored with over 30 totally different nations and sailed over 40,000 nautical miles.
Crusing into HMNB Portsmouth on Sunday Nov. 30, 2025, the homecoming occasion was watched from ashore by 1000’s of relations, associates, and excited spectators. Three helicopters, two Merlins and one Wildcat, marked the provider’s arrival with a formation flypast, whereas the port’s tug fleet saluted the ship with their water cannons. The ship’s firm lined the deck of the plane provider in a Royal Navy custom often known as Process Alpha – usually carried out on the finish of main deployments. A ceremonial cannon salute was fired from the rear of the ship.
The provider’s air wing had already departed for his or her house bases through the earlier week – the final to depart being seven Merlin HM2s which returned to RNAS Culdrose and Wildcat helicopters which landed again at RNAS Yeovilton on Saturday, Nov. 29. F-35Bs returned house to RAF Marham within the previous week. Each frontline F-35B models – 617 Squadron RAF, and 809 Naval Air Squadron, participated within the deployment, whereas some further crew from the 207 Squadron operational conversion unit (OCU) helped to spice up capability.
Alongside the provider, Kind 45 air defence destroyer HMS Dauntless additionally arrived into Portsmouth. Because the group sailed into the English Channel, passing Cornwall, a Wildcat helicopter introduced your complete crew of the destroyer a cargo of contemporary Cornish pasties from ashore as an additional morale enhance previous to their homecoming the next morning.
Morale is already excessive onboard in anticipation for homecoming however Ann’s has made our day. They organized Cornish Pasty’s for your complete Ships Comp. @COMUKCSG @NATO #CSG25 pic.twitter.com/Nd1f4XTvUf
— HMS Dauntless (@HMSDauntless) November 29, 2025
@HMSDauntless returns house 💙 pic.twitter.com/nDwcz8aAFa
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) November 30, 2025
Norwegian frigate HMoMS Roald Amundsen, which has been connected to the CSG since departure, is because of arrive a number of hours after HMS Prince of Wales, after which will probably have its personal homecoming ceremony upon returning to Norway within the coming days. A Royal Navy contingent was launched into the Norwegian ship together with a Wildcat HMA2 helicopter.
Additional down the coast in Plymouth, Kind 23 frigate HMS Richmond returned to its personal homeport of HMNB Devonport.
WELCOME HOME HMS RICHMOND @HMS_Richmond arrived contained in the breakwater simply earlier than 10am this morning, and is now at anchor.
The frigate left Plymouth within the Spring for Operation Highmast, to guard with different warships the UK flagship @HMSPWLS on deployment within the far east,… pic.twitter.com/zhZiWuwiXE
— Kevin Kelway, BCAc (@Rockhoppas) November 30, 2025
Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the UK Provider Strike Group, mentioned “It has been a privilege to guide the almost 4,000 troopers, sailors, aviators, and marines who’ve sailed over 40,000 nautical miles as a part of the Strike Group, working with over 30 nations en route.”
“Final week the Defence Secretary introduced that the UK Provider Strike Group had reached full working functionality. That could be a testomony to the arduous work each on Operation Highmast and of those that have served earlier than us to achieve this milestone. The Strike Group has come house stronger for NATO than it departed and I’m extremely pleased with all those that have taken half in Operation Highmast.”
Practically house! 🇬🇧
After an eight month deployment, at this time the Provider Strike Group, led by HMS Prince of Wales, returns to the UK.
This was their journey. All 40,000 nautical miles of it. pic.twitter.com/apMCEUVBI0
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 30, 2025
28 VVIP visitors had been hosted by the CSG by means of the deployment, and as many as 82 British corporations had been ready to make use of the deployment to showcase its services or products to potential clients. This aspect of the deployment is believed to have generated export pursuits as much as the worth of £17 billion.
Operation Highmast
Operation Highmast was the second Royal Navy deployment to the Indo-Pacific led by a Queen Elizabeth class plane provider. It noticed quite a few firsts – essentially the most notable, and most up-to-date, being the primary ever deployment of 24 British F-35Bs on board a provider, finishing a significant milestone for declaration of full working functionality (FOC). Moreover, the provider group made use of latest unmanned plane know-how and employed Malloy T-150 octacopter UAVs for inter-ship cargo transfers.
F-35B cross-decking operations had been accomplished with the U.S., Italy, and Japan, with the Japan Maritime Self-Protection Drive’s JS Kaga turning into the primary ever Japanese warship to host a British jet. When internet hosting F-35Bs from different nations, the overall variety of jets on board HMS Prince of Wales at one time reached a file variety of 26.
For the primary time ever, plane carriers from each the UK and India labored collectively throughout an train, and Indian Su-30 and Jaguar plane went up towards British F-35Bs in a provider defence situation.
A port go to to Darwin, Australia, marked the primary go to of a Royal Navy plane provider to the nation since 1997 – virtually three a long time. UK Defence Secretary John Healey and then-International Secretary David Lammy flew out to Australia to mark the event.
Surprising challenges additionally examined personnel through the deployment. Mechanical failures on F-35Bs noticed two high-profile diversions to airfields ashore, together with one in India which noticed the jet stranded for over a month.
Good work by the @RAF_Marham engineering crew in seemingly not solely getting the @RoyalAirForce F-35B that had been caught in India airworthy, however airworthy sufficient to return to @HMSPWLS off Australia after a 4,000 mile flight (supported by a Voyager tanker).
— Dr Phil Weir (@navalhistorian) July 23, 2025
Availability points throughout the Royal Navy’s submarine service imply that – although official remark isn’t made on submarine actions – open supply analysts had been capable of deduce that almost all of HMS Prince of Wales’ deployment had been accomplished with no Royal Navy submarine escort. It’s unknown whether or not the shortfall was as a substitute met by allied nations. The presence of a submarine is a key a part of the strike group’s anti-submarine warfare measures, capable of clear a approach forward for the group avoiding the eyes and ears of opposing submarines.
In the course of the CSG 21 deployment, which was supported by Astute class submarine HMS Astute, the hunt for a suspected Chinese language submarine by HMS Richmond and its Merlin HM2 helicopter was documented by an on-board TV crew.
Although Suez Canal and Crimson Sea transits have at all times been performed with heightened safety measures, current occasions involving Houthi assaults on delivery within the space led to the CSG taking in depth measures for self-defence full with an enormous reinforcement of RAF Akrotiri with plane to help in offering a 24/7 overwatch of the fleet. Round the clock readiness was maintained by the Wildcat helicopter launched into HMS Dauntless, ready to launch at a second’s discover to intercept incoming threats with its Martlet missiles.
Fortunately, not like in 2021, pandemic restrictions have largely been capable of be withdrawn and the CSG’s personnel had been capable of get pleasure from runs ashore in Japan, Greece, Singapore, and plenty of different international locations. Escorts from the CSG known as into some lesser visited areas, with HMS Richmond visiting the Philippines and Vietnam, and HNoMS Roald Amundsen calling into Sri Lanka.
Konnichiwa 👋🇯🇵
An enormous second for us as we sailed into Tokyo for the primary time yesterday.#CSG25 pic.twitter.com/h0VVJJ8qTT
— HMS Prince of Wales (@HMSPWLS) August 29, 2025
Replenishment vessel RFA Tidespring, which is remaining at sea by means of to 2026, carried out 79 at-sea replenishments throughout its time with the CSG. The tanker break up from the group earlier than its leg by means of the Suez Canal, and as a substitute travelled the great distance round Africa. This allowed engagement alongside the best way with quite a few African nations, which, once more, see a far much less widespread Royal Navy presence than among the principal CSG’s locations.
The following UK provider deployment to the Indo-Pacific is at present scheduled for 2029. In keeping with the newest plans, this deployment will see the debut of a hybrid air wing and activity power, that includes unmanned collaborative fight plane and unmanned floor and sub-surface vessels.
