US, Royal Navy aircraft carriers underway together in the Atlantic

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), the US Navy’s second Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, and the lead Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth met in the Atlantic Ocean last week for cross-deck visits and a photo exercise.

Commodore Mike Utley, the commander of the Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group, and Capt. Steve Moorhouse, commander of HMS Queen Elizabeth, visited Carrier Strike Group Ten and the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) on September 27.

Side boys posted as the commodore and captain arrived and stepped off the helicopter, greeted by Rear Adm. Paul Schlise, commander, Carrier Strike Group Ten and Capt. Kyle Higgins, Ike’s commanding officer, on Ike’s flight deck.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is underway off the US East Coast for the final bout of her F-35B fighter jet trials which started last year ahead of the ship’s first operational deployment sometime in 2021.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and ships from its carrier strike group are training in preparation for an upcoming deployment.

“It’s been an honor to host Commodore Utley and Capt. Moorhouse aboard the Mighty Ike,” said Rear Adm. Paul Schlise, commander, Carrier Strike Group Ten.

“The US Navy’s partnership with the Royal Navy transcends time and generations of sailors and leaders who’ve forged an alliance that makes us all stronger and more secure. This opportunity to train and operate with elements of the Queen Elizabeth Strike Group is the latest chapter of a book still being written.”

“To be here today, operating both the HMS Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group in such close proximity, demonstrates just how closely aligned our two nations are,” said Utley.