International Fleet Review

THE PHOTOGRAPHER           GALLERY           PUBLISHED MATERIAL           LINKS           COPYRIGHT           CONTACT

28th of June, 2005

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Admiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy hosted an International Fleet Review at Portsmouth harbour of vessels from some 35 countries as part of a number of events held throughout the year. As the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, the Queen accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, Admiral of the fleet, reviewed the international fleet from the Arctic patrol ship, HMS Endurance.

The first Fleet review was in 1346 during the reign of Edward III prior to sailing for war with France. Since then, there has been an additional 41 Fleet reviews. Some of the most recent were:-

o May 1944 - D-Day invasion fleet
o June 1953 - Queen's coronation
o May 1969 - 20th anniversary of NATO
o June 1977 - Elizabeth II silver jubilee

The assembled review consisted of 174 vessels in total where they were either formed up at anchor, patrolling or involved in the sail past. The vessels involved were:-

o 67 UK warships and auxiliaries
o 43 foreign warships
o 15 foreign government yachts
o 29 Civilian tall ships
o 30 Merchant or private vessels

Some of the most notable warships present were the carriers from four different nations. The Royal Navy had HMS Invincible & HMS Illustrious present plus the helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean. Spain was represented by the SPS Principe de Asturias which had a number of rare AV-8B Harrier's onboard. The United States of America was represented by the USS Saipan & France was represented by the FS Charles de Gaulle, the largest warship present during the International Fleet Review and was carrying a mix of Dassault Etendards, Dassault Rafale's, one Dauphin helicopter & an Alouette III helicopter on deck. All five carriers were anchored directly in front of Portsmouth harbour and was the main focus point of the International Review.

After the Queen had completed her review of the fleet, an armada of aircraft and helicopters from the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy did a flypast over Portsmouth harbour. An impressive nine ship pass by Royal Navy Sea Harrier FA2's & Royal Air Force Harrier GR7's was undoubtedly the highlight. With the withdrawal of the Sea Harrier in March 2006, such a flypast will be a thing of the past. Foreign participants during the flypast were the Australian Navy SH-60 Seahawk and the Pakistani Navy Sea King and Alouette.

With money for defence spending dwindling with every nation & numerous countries committed to the fight on terrorism, it was impressive to see such a number of warships from all over the world gathered together in one place to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and to commemorate the death of Admiral Lord Nelson.

With thanks to the staff of Trafalgar 200, all personnel onboard the P.A. Charles de Gaulle and to our Royal Navy escort, Gemma King.