Operation Cunningham was a naval operation in April 2010 by units of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 to ship British military personnel and air passengers stranded in continental Europe by the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption

Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption

In response to concerns that volcanic ash ejected during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many European countries was closed to instrument flight rules traffic, resulting in the largest air-traffic shut-down since World War II...

. The amphibious warfare ships HMS Albion

HMS Albion (L14)

HMS Albion is a Landing Platform Dock of the Royal Navy, the first of the two-ship Albion class. Built by BAE Systems Marine in Barrow-in-Furness, Albion was launched in March 2001 by the Princess Royal...

 and HMS Ocean

HMS Ocean (L12)

HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy is an amphibious assault ship , the sole member of her class. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force...

 and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal (R07)

HMS Ark Royal is a decommissioned light aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Royal Navy. She was the third and final vessel of Invincible-class...

 were assigned to the operation, which was named after the Second World War British admiral Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope

Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope KT, GCB, OM, DSO and two Bars , was a British admiral of the Second World War. Cunningham was widely known by his nickname, "ABC"....

. However, only Albion was directly involved in the repatriation effort.

Albion

Albion was assigned to collect 200 soldiers from 3rd Battalion, The Rifles

The Rifles

The Rifles is the largest regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of five regular and two territorial battalions, plus a number of companies in other TA battalions, Each battalion of the Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light...

 from Santander

Santander, Cantabria

The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

, and to fill the remaining space aboard with passengers, arriving on the morning of 20 April.

Ocean

Ocean sailed from her Devonport base

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

 on 19 April, being on readiness in the Channel from 20 April.

Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal was detached from NATO Joint Warrior war games

Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration

The Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration began in 1994 as the Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration . Since 1994, the program has evolved into a coalition program and the name was changed in 2004 to reflect this new trend. U.S...

 off north-west Scotland (also affected by the grounding of aircraft), reaching the south coast of England on 20th April and sailing from HMNB Portsmouth

HMNB Portsmouth

Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...

to join Ocean in the Channel later that day.