Portsmouth, United Kingdom - November 30, 2025 HMS Dauntless arrived back home in Portsmouth to an emotional welcome from friends and family as Britain’s premier naval deployment of 2025 came to an end. The homecoming marks the conclusion of the UK Carrier Strike Group’s eight-month mission to the Indo-Pacific, which involved more than 2,000 personnel, including sailors, soldiers, aviators, Royal Marines and civilians. Families and well-wishers are expected to gather at air and naval bases from the Lizard Peninsula to Norfolk to greet the returning forces. The Strike Group has been led by the nation’s flagship HMS Prince of Wales, which sails into Portsmouth on Sunday afternoon accompanied by two of her escorts: destroyer HMS Dauntless and Norwegian frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen. A third escort, frigate HMS Richmond, is heading back to Plymouth. The group’s aircraft have already flown or are flying to their home bases: F-35B Lightning stealth fighters to RAF Marham in Norfolk, Merlin helicopters to RNAS Culdrose near Helston and RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset, and Wildcat helicopters to Yeovilton. Tanker RFA Tideforce, which supported the final month of the deployment, is returning to Portland. Her sister ship RFA Tidespring, which provided fuel through three-quarters of the Highmast mission, remains on task, while Norway’s HNoMS Maud performed tanker duties during the opening weeks. The arrivals draw to a close the UK Carrier Strike Group’s 2025 mission, codenamed Operation Highmast, which took the force as far east as Japan and Australia. The strike group returns having been declared fully operational and ready to assume NATO duties.