Originally Posted by
Not_a_boffin
It goes for back enough that even Kitty Hawk, Enterprise and JFK had a tour. Plus Vinson, Stennis, Charles de Gaulle, Reagan. I think most of the USN CVN had a period on line during the last couple of decades.
As post 35 suggests, our CVS / Harrier combo didn't have the legs to contribute meaningfully, although both Illustrious and Ocean supported Op Veritas in the early stages - not with f/w though.
Ocean also acted as the flagship for TF50 in 2017, and RN frigates, destroyers, and even Bagger Sea Kings based aboard an RFA were part of the carrier groups quite often for over a decade, and contributed to things like coordination of air assets as well as protection.