HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed from Portsmouth on the 18th August and arrived at Naval Sation Mayport, Florida for her first visit to the United States on 5th September. This photo and video essay documents the initial part of her Westlant 18 deployment.
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Speaking to us on the bridge of HMS Queen Elizabeth shortly before departure for the US, the Captain, Jerry Kyd spoke about aircraft carriers and some broader naval strategic issues.
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Just over a year since HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived in Portsmouth for the first time, she will sail for her longest and most significant deployment yet. Known as Westlant 18, the primary purpose of the trip is for QE to conduct the first of class flying trials (FOCFT) with the F-35B Lightning II. (Some of the aviation aspects are discussed in more detail in our earlier article).
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As we predicted would be the case – yesterday the MoD made its first steps to restart the Type 31e competition after it was temporarily suspended on 24 July.
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Last week HMS Defender was accepted back into the fleet by Commodore Wood, Commander of the Portsmouth Flotilla after successful completion of post-refit sea trials. HMS Defender deployed to the Gulf for nine months in 2015 after which, she entered an 18-month major refit in Portsmouth conducted by BAE Systems.
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In the recent image above HMS Tyne can be seen flying the White Ensign, with HMS Forth under repair in the background. The MoD says HMS Tyne was never formally decommissioned, although this had certainly been the plan. Instead, she held a ‘paying off’ in a ceremony on 23rd May but in an unusual turn of events, the ship is going back into service.
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The revelation on 24th July that the Type 31e frigate programme had been abruptly halted has given rise to intense and largely inaccurate speculation about why this has happened. Further investigation strongly suggests the hold up is purely a technicality in the bidding procedure, rather than anything more serious.
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on 20th July the MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) agency informed UK industry that it has halted the Type 31e frigate programme. Although the objectives were always recognised as being highly challenging, there was growing enthusiasm across UK industry to be involved in the project and this sudden announcement is something of a shock.
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