Britain’s biggest warship leaves to join NATO exercises in Mediterranean

Britain’s biggest warship has left Portsmouth, headed for exercises in the Atlantic and Mediterranean in her latest foray as NATO’s command ship.

HMS Prince of Wales will complete two weeks of preparations off the UK’s South Coast before joining warships from across NATO for Spanish-led training and port visits to Spain and Portugal.

The aircraft carrier is scheduled to visit Rota, on Spain’s west coast, before linking up with a multinational task group for Spain’s annual exercises, known as Flotex.

It will involve a large contingent of Spanish ships and will include NATO task groups (Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2) which are responsible for the security and prosperity of the Mediterranean.