Excited crowds celebrate as Royal Navy’s £3.5bn flagship HMS Prince of Wales sets sail on an eight-month journey towards the Far East as a strong military presence – with crew prepared to challenge China on the Taiwan issue

The Royal Navy’s £3.5billion flagship has set sail on its eight-month mission to the Far East as part of a huge military show of force that could see it clashing with China.

Crowds cheered as HMS Prince of Wales departed her home of Portsmouth to lead an international maritime strike group which aims to send a ‘powerful message’ that Britain ‘means business’.

The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier – the biggest vessel ever built for the Senior Service – will lead a coalition of British, Norwegian and Canadian warships on operations in the Mediterranean, Middle East, south-east Asia, Japan and Australia. 

While the Government has not confirmed the precise route of ‘Operation Highmast’ – the codename for the deployment – the Navy has not ruled out sailing through the contentious 110-mile wide Taiwan Strait. 

The mission comes amid mounting fears that China is planning to launch a full-scale invasion of the island, with Beijing’s military having already drilled huge D-Day style assaults of Taiwan using soldiers, marines, warships and its air force.

And as tensions continue to intensify, the commander of the British-led carrier strike group has insisted the Royal Navy stands ready to defy China – and that it is prepared for any sort of military operation. 

‘I will deliver whatever mission I am ordered to go and do – that’s my role,’ a defiant Commodore James Blackmore told the Telegraph ahead of the UK task group’s deployment.

‘My part of the bargain is being ready for all eventualities from a combat capability, from a defence engagement capability, from a partners and allies capability, so I’m ready to exercise whatever the Government or the Ministry of Defence asks me to do.’

Thousands of families and well-wishers lined the harbour walls at Portsmouth to wave off the £3.5billion naval leviathan, which will be accompanied from the navy base by Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless.

Banners and flags were waved by members of the public from the walls and beach of Portsmouth harbour with sailors aboard the 65,000-tonne warship waving back to cheers from the crowds as they passed. 

In a tribute to the Pope Francis, HMS Prince of Wales’s ensign flag on its flight deck was at half-mast as a ‘sign of a respect’ to the late pontiff, a navy spokesman confirmed.

The ships will then be joined by two Norwegian vessels – tanker HNoMS Maud and frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen – as well as the UK and Canadian frigates HMS Richmond and HMCS Ville de Quebec, which are sailing from Plymouth.

The support vessel Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Tidespring will make up the final ship in the Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which will involve other ships and nations during the deployment called Operation Highmast.

A contingent of 18 UK F-35B jets will join the carrier in the days after departure, with that number increasing to 24 during the deployment.

Also joining will be Merlin Mk2 anti-submarine helicopters from RNAS Culdrose and Merlin Mk4 Commando and Wildcat helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton, as well as an undeclared number of T-150 Malloy and Puma drones.

Cdre Blackmore, 50, said the deployment would send a ‘powerful message’ to allies and potential adversaries about the UK’s naval and air power.

While he could not divulge the exact route the fleet would take while in the Indo-Pacific, he added there was a clear motive for being there. 

He said: ‘It’s about supporting key trade routes that exist from the Indo-Pacific region to the UK, and supporting partners and allies in the region, showing that we are there as a capable and credible force should it be required.

‘That in a time of crisis, we can come together and fight together and show that we have a capability that we mean business with.’

He added: ‘Working closely with partners from across the globe, Operation Highmast will demonstrate credible deterrence and our support to Nato and the rules-based international order.

‘This will reaffirm that the UK is secure at home and strong abroad and reinforce the UK’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific.’

Just weeks ago, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, head of Britain’s armed forces, met with top members of China’s military during a low-key trip to the Asian superpower.  

The meeting, the first by a British Chief of the Defence Staff in a decade, led to speculation the Chinese had warned Adm Radakin to steer clear of the Taiwan Strait during the carrier strike group’s mission to the Far East.

China insists it owns almost all of the South China Sea and that the Taiwan Straight falls into its territorial waters. 

However, Nato says the contested stretch of sea are international waters and that vessels have a right to freely navigate it.  

Despite this, the 2021 deployment of the UK Carrier Strike Group – spearheaded by HMS Prince of Wales’s sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth – did not traverse the strait.

It led to accusations from Tory MPs that Britain was seeking to cosy up to Beijing. Should the strike group again avoid the territory, similar accusations could arise.  

A total of 2,500 military personnel – about 2,100 British, 400 from Norway, Canada and Spain – will initially deploy as part of the naval strike group, with the numbers rising to 4,500 for the major exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.

Captain Will Blackett, commanding officer of HMS Prince of Wales, said: ‘We have been training very, very hard for over a year now, and we’re good to go.

‘This ship is a fantastic machine, she’s got amazing equipment – state of the art – and we’re very proud to take her around the world. 

‘But it only works because of the magic that’s brought to it by the people on board.’

Leading Engineering Technician (LET) Josh Thompson, 29, from Barnstable, Devon, said: ‘Personally, it’s something to be pretty proud of, it’s something that doesn’t come round very often, seeing stops in places that most people don’t see.

‘And then also being a part of the bigger picture hopefully for the future of the UK and the world.’

ET John Davis, 24, from Oxford, said: ‘I’m really excited to be honest, I’m quite proud of the fact I’ll be doing it.’

Gemma McConnell, 42, from Plymouth, Devon, was with children Lachlan, seven, and Chloe, four, to wave off 38-year-old Surgeon Commander David McConnell in Portsmouth.

She said: ‘You’ve got to believe in the Navy to be a Navy wife, a proper part of it.

‘It doesn’t ever make me sad when he goes away, because I think it’s an adventure, he gets to see the world, he’s getting to be with amazing people and it just gives me an enormous sense of pride.’

Viv Pyatt, 61, from Probus, near Truro, Cornwall, came to see son Able Seaman Harry Pyatt, 24, off.

She said it had been an emotional farewell and added: ‘We all had a few tears, even my son, he had a few tears, but he’s got a girlfriend on board, so I think they’ll look after each other, so they’ll be fine.’

Defence Secretary John Healey was full of praise for all those taking part in the military deployment to the Indo-Pacific. 

‘I want to thank the thousands of our armed forces personnel involved in the delivery of this immensely complex operation, demonstrating the UK’s world-leading capability to deploy a major military force around the world,’ he said.

‘This is a unique opportunity for the UK to operate in close co-ordination with our partners and allies in a deployment that not only shows our commitment to security and stability, but also provides an opportunity to bolster our own economy and boost British trade and exports.

‘As one of only a handful of countries in the world able to lead a deployment of this scale, the Royal Navy is once again demonstrating its formidable capability while protecting British values and sending a powerful message of deterrence to any adversary.’

Minister for the armed forces, Luke Pollard MP – who was in Portsmouth to watch Prince of Wales and HMS Dauntless depart – added: ‘The deployment of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group not only projects UK military power, but it’s also a platform for our exports, for our businesses, for promoting UK jobs and growth, as well as our influence.

‘And by having an international-by-design task group with our Norwegian, Canadian and Spanish friends alongside us for this initial phase of the deployment, we’re working with our allies showing strength by coming together in these more uncertain times.’

Stephen Morgan, Portsmouth South MP and former shadow armed forces minister, said the deployment of the Royal Navy fleet was one of HMS Prince of Wales’ ‘biggest yet’.

Speaking to MailOnline, the Labour MP added: ‘Our aircraft carriers show our nation’s naval might and I know Portsmouth people will be feeling proud today of the vital role our city plays in pursuing peace and stability both at home and abroad.

‘For some in our community, today will also be bittersweet as they say goodbye to their friends and loved ones who will be carrying out such courageous and important work on this deployment.’

The CSG’s first task will be to join a Nato exercise off France testing aerial defences before the ships move on to the Mediterranean to work with an Italian-led carrier force and then heading east via the Red Sea.

Here, the navy could face the threat of potential drone and missile attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. 

The terror group has previously attacked vessels passing through the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest and most important shipping routes. 

Earlier this year, Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond was scrambled into action to shoot down a ballistic missile fired toward a merchant vessel in the region by the Houthis. 

In the run up to the eight-month CSG deployment, the navy has been running a series of intensive drills to fend off large-scale ‘drone swarm’ assaults.  

The carrier strike group is expected to return to the UK before Christmas.