THE last act of bringing HMS Ark Royal back to life has begun with six weeks of exercises in the Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic.

The war games are the final test for the Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier which emerged from a £20m refit in Rosyth last autumn.

First up is Neptune Warrior off the Scottish west coast involving British air, sea and land power. The exercise – which used to be known as the Joint Maritime Course – is run by staff at Faslane naval base.

Next comes a major exercise – Exercise Carina – with Allied warships in the Baltic and the Kattegat to gear the ship and her crew up for NATO duties later this year when Ark takes charge of the defence organisation’s High Readiness Force.

For Carina, the ship will be joined by the RN’s senior ‘at sea’ commander, Admiral Neil Morisetti, and his staff to direct the war games, during which Ark herself will play the role of a helicopter assault ship, similar to HMS Ocean.

The carrier has already received a clean bill of health from RN assessors, who put the ship through Operational Sea Training earlier this year, culminating in a mock evacuation of Cornwall.

Three Fleet Air Arm squadrons have joined the ship for its spring work-up: Merlins of 824 NAS, Lynxes of 847 NAS and Junglie Sea Kings of 848 NAS.

Before departing Ark bade farewell to her second-in-command, Executive Officer Cdr Tim Stockings, who was unceremoniously bundled off the carrier by his shipmates and into the back of a waiting police van (for fun, of course). Former HMS Newcastle captain and football fan Cdr Steve Pearson has stepped into his shoes.