HMS Albion returns home after Operation Achillean Mediterranean deployment

HMS Albion has returned home to Devonport after a major European deployment for the Royal Navy with Nato allies.

Operation Achillean involved nine warships, F-35B Lightning jets, helicopters and thousands of sailors and Royal Marines Commandos.

HMS Albion sailed nearly 50,000 miles and visited more than a dozen countries across three continents over the course of three months, together with her Littoral Response Group North task force made up of the ships RFA Argus, HMS Defender and RFA Mounts Bay.

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HMS Albion's task group operated in the central and eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Adriatic, working in Spain, Libya, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Montenegro, Croatia, Malta, Tunisia, Greece, Algeria and Italy, the Navy said.

Meanwhile, Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group carried out flying operations in the North Sea.

Captain Marcus Hember, HMS Albion's Commanding Officer, who took over from Captain Simon Kelly in Gibraltar on 5 December, said: "It is remarkable what the task group achieved in these busy months.

"It is a testament to the skill, hard work, and dedication of each sailor and commando.

"The task group has visited more than a dozen countries, forging closer links with our allies and partners. I have no doubt that the ship's company will continue to deliver to the end of this deployment and in the year ahead in 2023."