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There was double delight for destroyers Defender and Diamond as the warships received a warm welcome from families after a landmark deployment. The two ships sailed into Portsmouth Naval Base 60 minutes apart – and a few hours ahead of the nation’s flagship, aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which they accompanied for most of the past seven months. The duo…
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August 25, 2021 – A massive CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter touches down on Farallon de Medinilla: a windswept, uninhabited tropical island in the middle of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) pour out of the helicopter’s tail, 53 strong, including a 10-Marine Tactical Air Control Platoon (TACP). Beneath the verge on…
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USS America (LHA 6), the Navy’s only forward-deployed amphibious assault ship, conducted a bilateral fueling-at-sea (FAS) with Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender (D 36) while operating with elements of the HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) Carrier Strike Group (CSG-21) in the Philippine Sea, August 20th. This is the first time in history a U.S. amphibious ship has conducted a FAS with…
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August 20, 2021 – F-35 stealth jets and warships of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group unleashed their firepower during high-octane live firing exercises with US allies as the Indo-Pacific leg of their global deployment ramps up another notch. HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Kent, HMS Defender and HNLMS Evertsen of the CSG – which is currently on a seven-month deployment to…
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The United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group (CSG), led by aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08), pulled into Apra Harbor in the midst of the CSG21 deployment to the Indo-Pacific region, August 6th. The deployment is the U.K.’s first by a carrier strike group in the Indo-Pacific for almost 25 years and marks a historic achievement in the bilateral partnership between…
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August 5, 2021 – The next phase of a busy program at sea has begun for the UK’s Carrier Strike Group. The task group led by Portsmouth-based carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has passed through the Strait of Malacca (between Malaysia and northern Indonesia), rendezvousing with a number of navies along the way. Over the course of a few days, ships…
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June 10, 2021 – HMS Defender has completed NATO security operations in the Mediterranean and will be heading to the Black Sea after a stop in Istanbul. The Type 45 destroyer is part of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group but has peeled away from the task group temporarily to carry out her own set of missions in the Black Sea.…
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March 2, 2021 – HMS Defender has left Portsmouth to take part in intensive training ahead of a busy year as part of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Carrier Strike Group 21 mission. The Type 45 Destroyer recently sailed from Portsmouth to take part in intensive training to prepare for missions around the world this spring on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s landmark deployment.…
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October 5, 2020 – The Royal Navy’s new Carrier Strike Group has assembled for the first time, marking the beginning of a new era of operations. HMS Queen Elizabeth is at the center of the group which is the start of joint carrier operations between the navy and its NATO allies. Nine ships, 15 fighter jets, 11 helicopters and 3,000…
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March 20, 2020 – HMS Defender returned to HM Naval Base Portsmouth this morning after a hugely successful 222 days away from home. Due to crew shortages, no replacement was deployed. Her crew of 270 and embarked helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron safely accompanied 38 British-flagged tankers and cargo ships through troubled waters and made two significant drug seizures.…
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