HMS Queen Elizabeth sails along the Suez Canal – en route to Beijing-angering journey through South China Sea: HMS Defender escorts carrier after its Russian Back Sea confrontation
- Queen Elizabeth sailed through the Suez Canal for the first time Tuesday during her maiden deployment
- Was joined by carrier strike group which includes HMS Defender – involved in Black Sea standoff with Russia
- Ships will now take part in operations in the Middle East including US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
- That will be followed by Far East voyage, including transit of the South China Sea which will enrage Beijing
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Britain’s largest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has sailed through the Suez Canal for the first time as it crosses from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea as part of its maiden deployment.
The £3billion vessel – affectionately dubbed ‘Big Lizzie’ – was pictured sailing through the strategic Egyptian waterway on Tuesday alongside her carrier strike group which includes two Type 45 destroyers, two Type 23 frigates, multiple support vessels and an Astute-class submarine.
Among them are HMS Defender and Dutch vessel HNLMS Evertsen, two destroyers which were involved in recent confrontations with Russian forces in the Black Sea. Also present is US destroyer USS The Sullivans.
The journey marks the end of of ‘phase one’ of the Queen Elizabeth’s deployment, which saw it carry out operations in the Mediterranean including exercises alongside French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
‘Phase two’ of the deployment will see operations carried out in the Middle East, including strikes on ISIS targets using two squadrons of F-35 Lightning fighters stationed on board.
Commodore Steve Moorhouse, who is in charge of the carrier group, said the Queen Elizabeth had already been taking on the ‘lion’s share’ of combat operations against ISIS even before leaving the Mediterranean.
The aircraft carrier will also be used to assist the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, before sailing across the Arabian Sea to port in Oman, followed by a trip to India for joint exercises with the country’s Navy.
‘Phase three’ of the mission will then see UK Carrier Strike Group head to the China-Pacific region for joint exercises with Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand which will include sailing through the South China Sea – which is sure to produce an angry backlash from Beijing.
Its final stops will be in Japan and South Korea, ending a voyage of some 26,000 nautical miles which will have spanned some 40 countries.
The deployment of the carrier group marks a major milestone for the British Navy and has been described as the single largest concentration of naval power to leave the country in a generation.
