Day 222:Homecoming

Just in time for Christmas, Royal Navy sailors have returned home to a joyous welcome from family and friends. After a long and productive 8 months at sea, Royal Navy ships and aircraft announced their arrival at ports and bases around the UK for the biggest homecoming in 20 years. Their return home marked the end of Operation Highmast, the premier deployment of 2025. 

The Group’s flagship carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, and frigate HMS Dauntless sailed into Portsmouth with crowds of loved ones waiting excitedly for their arrival. Meanwhile, HMS Richmond and her crew were greeted by eager family and friends in Plymouth. But the reunions didn’t end there.  

Aircrew from the 820 and 814 Naval Air Squadrons, who provided CSG25 with vital Merlin Mk2 helicopters, returned to the arms of ecstatic family and friends at RNAS Culdrose. While elsewhere, aircrew from across the fleet, including the Commando Helicopter Force and two squadrons of impressive F-35B Lightning stealth fighters flew into RNAS Yeovilton and RAF Marham. 

Also sailing into Portsmouth was HNoMS Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian frigate that provided vital anti-submarine and surface defence throughout the eight-month operation. The allied frigate will later return to Norway for its own winter homecoming. 

For 40,000 nautical miles and eight months of operation, the fleet of Carrier Strike Group formed a mighty defensive ring of steel around the flagship carrier HMS Prince of Wales, with HMS Dauntless on air defence and HMS Richmond and HNoMS Roald Amundsen on anti-submarine and surface defence. 

On the last leg of its deployment, the Group was declared “fully operational,” making it ready for NATO duties next year.  

Operation Highmast was an intensive eight-month deployment that called on a total of 4,500 personnel from the British Armed Forces and the participation of up to 30 nations. Along the way, Carrier Strike Group was joined by ten allied nations whose vessels and aircraft took part in days and weeks of intensive inter-operational exercises. Canada, Australia, and Japan were just a few of the many. 

Sailing to the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal, and onto the Pacific Rim, CSG25 was a monumental achievement for the Royal Navy; the largest deployment of UK maritime forces in the 21st century. While seizing the opportunity to promote British trade and industry, the operation has strongly reaffirmed the UK’s defence readiness and its continuous commitment to its international partners and security around the world.