of the city, with more than 300 officers and ratings parading through the city centre. Ocean became the Royal Navy Fleet Flagship in June 2015. In December 2015, she returned to port after Exercise COUGAR 15, an amphibious warfare exercise in the Mediterranean with the French Navy. In September 2016, Ocean left Devonport for the inaugural Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (JEF(M)) Task Group deployment which is the successor to the annual Cougar deployments. The bulk of this deployment took place East of Suez and demonstrated the UK's ongoing ability to deploy highly effective and combat capable maritime forces anywhere in the world. The core task group included the LSD RFA Mounts Bay (L3008), MOD strategic Ro-Ro vessel and . Elements of the Royal Marines 42 Commando, were spread across the force. Frigates and Destroyers from the Royal Navy and French Navy joined throughout the deployment. On the 60th anniversary of Operation Musketeer, Ocean became the flagship of COMATG. This marked the end of the JEF(M) deployment. On 25 November, the ship rendezvoused with . COMATG assumed command of the U.S. Task Force 50, becoming Commander, Task Force 50 (CTF 50). Due to the U.S. Navy gap in carrier coverage in the Middle East, this was the first time a Royal Navy vessel had commanded the U.S. formation responsible for maritime war fighting in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulfs of Aden and Oman and the Indian Ocean. On 24 March Ocean returned to Devonport. During the deployment she steamed 23,000 miles, visited 11 countries, provided a platform for six British ambassadors and High Commissioners and was home to up to 1150 service personnel. At the end of August 2017, Ocean left Devonport for her final deployment, scheduled to take over as Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 flagship in the Mediterranean. Before she could relieve with SNMG2, Ocean was redeployed to assist in disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, and then the subsequent Hurricane Maria. Ocean was decommissioned on 27 March 2018 at HMNB Devonport, with Queen Elizabeth II attending the ceremony. Sale to Brazil Brazil, seeking a replacement for their navy's outgoing flagship, NAe São Paulo, began negotiations with the United Kingdom in 2017 to purchase Ocean for £84.3 million (312 million Brazilian Reais), following her decommissioning in 2018. An agreement was struck and, after being transferred to Brazil, the former HMS Ocean was commissioned as Atlântico