Fuel for the fire

HMS Defender was refuelled with 500,000 litres from US tanker USNS Pecos at the same time as US aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman.

The Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer is fighting Isis – known as Daesh – as part of the US Carrier Strike Group in the Gulf.

The Royal Navy said the ‘highly complex scenario’ was made tough as 2,500 tonnes of stores were also transferred by helicopter to the carrier.

The ships were travelling at 14 knots less than 50 metres apart.

HMS Defender’s navigating officer Lieutenant Barry Crosswood said: ‘Replenishing in an operational environment really focuses the mind, particularly when the task force is in such close proximity.’