HMS Queen Elizabeth And Carrier Strike Group Pass Through Singapore Strait

HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Carrier Strike Group have passed through the Singapore Strait.

The passage comes after the ships, deployed as part of the Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21), participated in Exercise Konkan, which saw the Royal Navy and Indian Navy carry out a number of maritime drills.

Following the exercise, the Carrier Strike Group partially split as the ships made their way towards the South China Sea.

Travelling ahead of HMS Queen Elizabeth, some ships were in the waterway before the aircraft carrier.

The ships have also recently been working with the Royal Thai Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy – a UK partner through both the Commonwealth and the Five Powers Defence Arrangements.

The Carrier Strike Group has run into problems on the deployment, with a number of positive coronavirus cases.

This included HMS Diamond, which has had to detach from CSG21 after also suffering "technical issues".

This has left the Royal Navy with only one of six Type 45 destroyers operationally available.

The 28-week CSG21 deployment, which began in May, will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.

Cover image: View of the Singapore skyline from the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth (Picture: HMS Queen Elizabeth Twitter).