THOUSANDS of Navy families will get to welcome loved ones home when the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales docks in Portsmouth harbour tomorrow — in a victory for The Sun.
Some 6,000 people including parents, partners and children had been invited to a homecoming party at the Navy’s HQ on Monday.
But the plans were thrown into chaos when the 65,000-tonne vessel was ordered to dock on Sunday — a day ahead of schedule — or be stranded in the Channel by a storm.
The area is expected to face winds of more than 50mph on Monday, which would make it too dangerous for even expert harbour pilots to bring the carrier into dock.
And families then learned they would not be allowed into HMNB Portsmouth because civilian support staff do not work on Sundays.
They were told they could come to a celebration on Monday as planned — even though most of the crew might not be there by then.
A Navy source told The Sun: “It was ridiculous. The world is preparing for war and we can’t open our base on a Sunday.”
But Top Brass made a U-turn after The Sun intervened on the relatives’ behalf, and families have been told they are welcome to watch the £3.2billion vessel arrive at 1.15pm.
The carrier set sail in April with escort ships HMS Dauntless, HMS Richmond, the Norwegian vessel HNoMS Roald Amundsen and a US nuclear powered submarine.
Together they have covered more than 40,000 nautical miles with port calls in Singapore, Australia, Vietnam, India and Japan.
The voyage, codenamed Operation Highmast, involved more than 4,000 UK military personnel and 2,500 aircraft sorties including by Merlin and Wildcat helicopters and F-35B Lightning jets.
The Lightnings will roar into RAF Marham in Norfolk while the choppers will swoop into RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall and RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s tanker Tideforce is due to dock in Portland.
The captain of frigate HMS Richmond Lt Cdr James Callender said: “We are looking forward to the joy of homecoming and being reunited with the family and friends whose support has helped make this deployment possible.”
The Navy said one of the highlights was that HMS Prince of Wales’ rock band was invited to play at Singapore’s Hard Rock Cafe.
The carrier also sailed to the wreck of its World War Two namesake, the battleship Prince of Wales, which was sunk in the South China Sea in 1941.
Commodore James Blackmore, the carrier strike group commander, said: “I am incredibly proud of all those who have taken part.”
A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “We recognise the enormous sacrifices that personnel and their families make on long deployments and the homecoming of the Carrier Strike Group will be a proud day for them and the country.
“Due to weather conditions, a decision was taken that ships returning from the Carrier Strike Group deployment will return a day early and we have worked rapidly to ensure family could be there to welcome their loved ones.
“We recognise this may affect some travel arrangements for family and friends planning to attend the original homecoming date on Monday and we thank them for their understanding.”
