Commodore Steve Moorhouse: Who Is The Former HMS Queen Elizabeth Captain?

Former captain of Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been appointed as the Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group. 

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, who took over as Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth in May, has been replaced by Captain Angus Essenhigh.

Cdre Moorhouse took control of HMS Queen Elizabeth after Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest was removed from the aircraft carrier and then "reassigned to a new role".

Commodore Steve Moorhouse's Career

Cdre Moorhouse was also the first sea-going Commanding Officer of HMS Prince of Wales, a role he took in September 2018.

He joined the Royal Navy in September 1991 as a University Cadet and, following basic flying training, specialised in Airborne Early Warning, gaining his Observer wings with 849 Squadron.

Appointed to B Flight, primarily embarked in HMS Illustrious, he experienced a wide variety of flying in environments ranging from the southern Indian Ocean to the Baltic.

Subsequently, as the Training and Operations Officer, he took on the challenges of frontline operations in the Northern Arabian Gulf and Sierra Leone.

Cdre Moorhouse has subsequently combined his aviation experience with a wide variety of sea and command appointments.

As a Principal Warfare Officer he deployed with HMS Chatham in 2003 for Operation Telic, providing naval gunfire in support of amphibious operations on the Al Faw peninsula.

He subsequently joined HMS Bulwark as her first Operations Officer.

His command appointments have included:

• the Offshore Patrol Vessel HMS Severn, undertaking Fishery Protection and Maritime Security Operations in UK waters;
• the Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel HMS Clyde, protecting British interests in the South Atlantic;
• the Type 23 Frigate HMS Lancaster for her work up from refit, Sea Training and Caribbean deployment;
• HMS Ocean during her tenure as NATO's High Readiness Command platform.

His staff appointments have included Naval Career Management for junior warfare officers and, within the Ministry of Defence, Capability Strategy and the Operations Directorate.

He has also commanded a multi-national task force, charged with delivering Maritime Security across the western Indian Ocean.

An alumnus of the Joint Services Higher Command and Staff Course, Moorhouse holds a Master of Arts degree in Defence Studies and was appointed OBE in the 2015 New Year Honours.

Married with two children, his interests are cooking, sport and maintaining a second home in southern Brittany, France.

Captain Stephen Moorhouse OBE was appointed captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth in May 2019 (Picture: MOD/Crown Copyright).