USS Harry S. Truman visits Portsmouth

US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman arrived into Portsmouth on October 6 for a port visit while on a Mediterranean Sea deployment.

The carrier most recently visited France and Greece and will continue with her program early this week.

Arriving early Saturday morning into a foggy Solent, she has anchored off Stokes Bay near Gosport.

Navigating Officer Commander Kent Smith said: “This morning was better than I had hoped actually, we got the forecast that there would be a lot of fog and wind but it wasn’t as bad as we thought. We had about two miles of visibility which isn’t great but also not terrible.

“Everyone is really looking forward to getting ashore and to seeing as much as we can of the UK while we are here.

“For a lot of people this will be their first time to the UK – and to Europe – so we will be making the most of it.

“We have a lot of hard-working men and women on this ship who keep us and the aircraft moving and everyone is looking forward to some down time.”

Captain Ken Houlberg, Captain Minehunter and Fishery Protection and formally Chief of Staff to the UK Carrier Strike Group said it was incredibly important to see the carrier in Portsmouth.

“It is of huge strategic importance that our closest NATO ally and Defence partner has paid us this port visit,” he said. “We are incredibly proud to welcome her and her ship’s company to Portsmouth.”