The UK Carrier Strike Group with HMS Queen Elizabeth at its heart are currently deep into the Indo-Pacific leg of their seven-month deployment that has taken them across the globe working with allies and partners in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and into the Pacific. Their latest foray has seen them work alongside ships from the Republic of Korea Navy during three days of events near Busan, which included joint maritime manoeuvres, with Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, Commodore Steve Moorhouse, thanking the ROK for “their enthusiastic support to the CSG21 deployment”.
The Royal Navy aircraft carrier arrived in Korean waters late in August ahead of a number of days of exercises alongside South Korea near the city of Busan. A number of photographs and snippets of information have been posted online about what HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and South Korean forces got up to during their time together. After leaving Korean waters, HMS Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the CSG will continue on their deployment in Asia. The aircraft carrier has now been at sea for more than three months having left her home of Portsmouth on May 22.
CSG21 consists of 9 warships, 32 aircraft and one submarine. More than 3,700 sailors, pilots and marines from the U.K., the U.S., and the Netherlands are on board. Queen Elizabeth, the 5th-generation aircraft carrier ship, is the largest warship in the U.K. history with 65,000 tons capacity of full load displacement. Its propellers generate power equivalent to 50 high-speed trains. The Queen Elizabeth will lead 6 U.K. warships, one U.K. submarine, one U.S. destroyer and a Dutch frigate. It is equipped with F-35B stealth combat aircrafts operated by the U.K. Royal Air Force, the U.K. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps.
