The British aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" was originally scheduled to depart from Portsmouth Port on the 11th to participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's "Steadfast Defender 2024" large-scale military exercise. However, when a large number of people gathered in Portsmouth to see off the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales", they were told that it would not be able to sail as scheduled.
This is a July 4, 2014 photo of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in the dockyard of the shipyard in Rosyth, Fife, east of Scotland. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Chunju.
The British Navy did not disclose the reasons for the postponement of the departure of the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales". The British "Daily Telegraph" quoted a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense as saying that the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" will leave Portsmouth soon, depending on the tide and weather conditions.
A source in the British Ministry of Defense said that the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" will be rescheduled to depart on the afternoon of the 12th and go to the waters near Norway.
According to the "Daily Telegraph", the regular preparations for the departure of the aircraft carrier were completed on the 11th, but the "Prince of Wales" aircraft carrier was delayed in departing, and the surface control ended later. A member of the public who came to see off the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" said: "I hope it doesn't break down again." ”
The "Prince of Wales" aircraft carrier was originally "on the top shift," and the British aircraft carrier that was originally scheduled to participate in NATO military exercises was the "Queen Elizabeth." The British Navy said on the 4th that due to problems with the propeller propulsion shaft of the "Queen Elizabeth" aircraft carrier found during the routine inspection before the trip, the "Prince of Wales" aircraft carrier participated in NATO military exercises on its behalf.
HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are new aircraft carriers built by the United Kingdom, commissioned in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
In August 2022, the aircraft carrier "Prince of Wales" went to North America to hold a joint exercise with the US and Canadian navies, but was towed back to port due to transmission system failure, and was replaced by the aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth" to participate in the military exercise.
NATO's "Steadfast Defender 2024" military exercise began on January 24 and will last until May 31, which is NATO's largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War, with about 90,000 military personnel from 31 NATO member states and Sweden participating, including more than 50 ships such as aircraft carriers and destroyers, more than 80 fighter jets, drones and other aircraft, as well as more than 1,100 combat vehicles such as 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles.