In a written question submitted by Baroness Goldie on September 11, 2024, regarding the future deployment of HMS Tamar and HMS Spey in Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the Royal Navy will maintain its presence in the region.
Responding to the query on September 25, 2024, Lord Coaker, Minister of State for Defence, stated:
“Yes, the current intent is to retain a persistent forward presence with HMS Tamar and HMS Spey in the Indo-Pacific. The ships regularly engage in activities with Southeast Asian states, including participation in military exercises, maritime activity with the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and defence and diplomatic engagement.”
This announcement reaffirms the UK’s commitment to maintaining security and enhancing diplomatic relations in the region, particularly through continued maritime cooperation and participation in defence initiatives such as the Five Power Defence Arrangements.
HMS Tamar and HMS Spey are Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessels of the Royal Navy, designed for long-term forward deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. These vessels, named after the River Tamar in England and the River Spey in Scotland, have been deployed to support a range of missions, including military exercises and diplomatic engagements.
HMS Tamar and Spey have participated in various operations throughout their deployment. In 2023, HMS Tamar operated off the Australian coast and South Pacific, conducting exercises focused on seabed warfare and mine countermeasures. HMS Spey has also been involved in regional missions, including providing relief to Tonga in 2022 following a volcanic eruption and tsunami.
Both ships are highly versatile, with the ability to undertake a variety of roles, from humanitarian assistance to contributing to international security efforts. Their deployments have included joint exercises with regional and international partners.
The long-term deployment of HMS Tamar and HMS Spey in the Indo-Pacific is part of a broader strategy to enhance the Royal Navy’s ability to respond to emerging challenges in the region. Their presence provides the UK with greater flexibility and influence, while ensuring a consistent contribution to maintaining peace and security in international waters.
good to see the new government has not really changed its policy around the Indian Ocean and pacific region.
Hopeful it will continue and when the T31s are commissioned they will take over and the rivers 2s can be used close to home.
My understanding is that the River batch ones will be decommissioned around 2027/28 and Spay and Tamar will return home and fill their void, by which time HMS Ventura will be close to setting off for the Indo-Pacific but there’s plenty of time for things to change, plus further delays to the T31’s may occur?
That may have been the plan in 2020, but anything beyond 2025 is currently pure speculation. But the forward basing concept has clearly been a huge success operationally, and important popular with the ships crews – they really do get to “see the world” and visit exotic locations, but know they will be home after just 4 months.
There seems to be assumption that the current defence review will cancel the T32 (aka T31B2) project, but perhaps some River Class Batch 3’s will be ordered instead. This will keep the Babcock Rosyth shipyard open until at least the mid-2030’s, and release the more capable but also more expensive T31’s from constabulary and showing the flag duties.
I think that trials of Sterling Castle have informed a RN decision to acquire 3 custom designed MCM motherships. This sounds to me like T32 so I see these going ahead. You could perhaps design them to have OPV / fisheries functionality to replace the batch 1 Rivers.
The new government is very serious about conducting a real defence review (perhaps too serious) but they won’t be preempted on any policy decisions beyond NATO and AUKUS.
I agree they are serous around the defence review…but this is where it gets interesting..because defence reviews should not lead policy, hight level policy should lead reviews. You cannot have a review without clear policy..or what are you having the review about ? What the review should decide is how you actually achieve your policy on defence..so how many ships and when and how you use them…
That is way to sensible for woke socialists politicians to grasp. They approach reviews with the aim of directing money to social programmes that buy votes. With Two Tier at the helm national defence is headed for the rocks. Anyone care to wager on what will be cut first?
One of the Carriers sold/mothballed, further reductions in the army strenght, only 3 AEW for the RAF will be ordered, no more f35 B orders, withdrawal of batch 1 thyphoons without replacement , of course forget the type 32 frigate etc.
I think you have hit all the main points except cut backs in the training budgets.
No carrier will be sold, there’s nobody to buy it. 3 AEW aircraft has been the (unfortunate) plan for years already, batch 1 Typhoons were already on the way out and nobody knows anything about the T32 yet.
I would add one carrier to be parked up, possibly sold. LPDs scrapped. The first batch of rivers to go early. Batch one Typhoons to go early. Lots of stuff kicked into the long grass. Like replacement of big ticket items. The Bays, The points. New helicopter order maybe cut or very slow delivery programme. Pumas axed early. Some RFA sold or scrapped.
Probably an accurate prediction Micki. I don’t think they’ll sell off one carrier(being strategic assets), likely to go into extended readiness -i.e un crewed reserve.
19 surface warships will be it – no Type 32 .
Indeed. The fact that the government has set up a portal to invite random opinions about fundamental questons that should already be a matter of policy is quite alarming.
Hopefully the Type 31s won’t take over from the Rivers at all, costing twice as much to do a presence job only two-thirds as well. We need fighty ships doing fighty things, such as forming the escort part of the LRG(S) and in the case of Venturer taking over from the T23 in the Gulf.
Let the Rivers keep doing what they are already doing very well.
Jon it’s very likely that at some point after 2027 the indopacific is going to turn into the worst shitshow since WW2, with very real chance of strategic surprise. We want fightingships in the pacific from 2027 both as part of the wests deterrence package and for the simple reason they may need to fight their way to safety across a 11,000mile battlefield.
We agree that the T31s should be there, but I’d argue not as presence ships. They need to be war focused. Let Tamar and Spey continue to turn up at Pitcairn, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. Let them help out as Kiribati sinks beneath the climate change waves. They don’t have to be plying the South China Seas or navigating the Straits of Taiwan if it’s all kicking off. The Indo Pacific is huge and there’ll still be presence work to be done from South America to East Africa.
If we had adequate patrol vessels at home I would agree, but how water defence has become very big and we really need ships for that, the rivers 1s are simple fisheries protection vessels and not suitable and are also old and will be gone by the end of the decade. So we need adequate home waters patrol vessels that are capable of monitoring and protecting infrastructure..that means, they can carry and launch air, surface and subsurface drones…in the end the Rivers 2 would be good at that, so we will need them home doing serious work protecting underwater infrastructure from interference by Russia and the T31s doing the serious work of facing off and being part of the pacific deterrence..because they can visit Pitcairn and still be part of the deterrence, they will not be spending all their time sitting in the china seas..that will be a rare event. Each ship will need to be placed where it can do the most strategic good..and having both OPVs and frigates wandering around the pacific when we need the OPVs for home waters is not good use.
The B1s are overspecified for what’s needed in home waters. We could happly use something like three Cape Class at £35m a pop, new. Getting some second hand could cost half that, or throwing in with Border Force for their requirements could add economies of scale.
Replacing B1s with B2s and B2s with T31s is the equivalent of using up a billion quid’s worth warships for £50m worth of need.
But in really what does HMG need to be doing in the pacific from a defence point of view..it has zero need for a OPV in the pacific as HMG has nothing to patrol..apart from a totally pointless rock with around 50 old people living on it. The only security concern for the UK in the pacific is to help deter a devastating world war focused around china and the U.S. ..and OPVs have also zero deterrent value…proper warships contribute to the balance of power in the area…the deployment of the OPVs in the pacific was a place holder for the T31s because the RN does not have the 30 escorts it needs.
The B1s have to go by the 2030s simple as..400 ton patrol boats like the cape class are totally useless for guarding North Sea infrastructure and would be total waste of cash..they are designed for chasing drugs dealers in benign seas. For the North Sea a 2000-3000 ton patrol craft with a large deck ability to take standard shipping containers ( as control centres and heavy crane that can handle large autonomous vessels is needed) the rivers 2 is the minimum useful spec for North Sea operations not overspec..anything less than a proper warship in the pacific is a vanity placeholder or show of weakness to an enemy looking for weakness.
What are we doing in the Pacific?
Remember the Solomon Islands case where China was trying to get a naval base? If you ignore countries they will shift allegiance to the power-blocks that don’t.
Small countries have the same votes in the UN as larger ones. We need to be there for them so they’ll be there for us.
We have a historic link to many of the Commonwealth countries in the South. Australia has taken over the burden of much of that, but we really should be pulling our weight too. This can be seen as obligation AND opportunity.
We counter misinformation. We don’t want only one story to prevail (unless it’s ours). Besides, it’s a lot easier to lie about someone if the recipient barely knows the subject of the lie. For us, BIOT and Mauritius comes to mind, but I don’t need to explain how much broader that goes.
MROSS is for mothership and for undersea infrastucture work. RB1s are used for training, fisheries protection, anti-smuggling, anti-terrorism, etc, all well within the compass of the Evolved Cape Class, which is sufficiently at home in North Atlantic waters, even if the range and speed are somewhat lacking. Trinidad and Tobago runs Cape Class in the North Atlantic as well as the Caribbean, after rejecting extended Rivers. Evolved Capes were just an example of the type of thing we could buy. If we really need something smaller than MROSS that’s suited to mothership work I’d go with the Damen multi-purpose ships not RB2s (MRSS budget). I don’t think we do.
Agree.
Mate – a lot of nervous Aussie politicians (left and the right) over China’s expansion in the South Pacific. NZs position remains somewhat European 1930’s- appeasement. We have it on authority that beyond Taiwan, China has no further territorial demands! 😆
Yes but, that’s what I’m saying the preset OPVs are fine place holders but they are not the capability you want for strategic engagement…nations understand the difference between a nation appearing in a region with a place holder and a nation providing serious capabilities..china has not turned up in the western Indian Ocean with a long distance OPV it does port visits with a small flotilla of warships.
People are actually forgetting the plan, the OPVs were never permanent, they were there until the escort numbers were returned…going ohh well we don’t need escorts to do the pacific work is what has got us were we are.
Yes it’s great they are there now, but they must be replaced with a meaningful capability, as was planned..
we could go on that road…well, we don’t need an escort for the south Atlantic, we don’t need one for the North Atlantic, we don’t need one for the pacific, we don’t need one for the med..what do we need an escort for…well
1 for the UK towed array, 1 for the Middle East and 3-4 with a CBG when it goes out….we could cover that with maybe 12 escorts if we forward based and did not send out the CBG much…
The reality is the navy did all of those tasks with escorts for a very very good reason and that’s not gone away….if you need to fight a war in that region you need to have your surface combatants sailing and practicing in those regions…if you want to prevent a war in those regions you need to have surface combatants visible in those regions to the enemy, if you want reassure your allies in those areas and keep them onside,you show them your capacity to keep surface combatants where they may be needed and have your warships practice with them…You cannot fulfil these functions with OPVs.
OPVs are for control of EEZs and maybe a bit of flag showing if your warship is busy…that’s it thats their purpose…we are using them for other roles because of incompetent governments leading the RN to run out of escorts.
Saying..well they are cheap..let’s keep using them and just have surface combatants in hot zones or ready with the CBG would be a very big mistake.
MORSS is one vessel may be two…the Uk EEZ is very large. At best there will be one available most of the time..I’m sorry The CAPE class is a 400 tons 60 meter craft, it’s not capable of delivering anything worthwhile to the RN, it cannot deliver the new autonomous SEA boats the RN has invested in…the rivers 2 can..it maybe useful as a boarder control cutter. We will need proper OPVs to replace the rivers 1…that is entirely what the rivers 2 were build for..if you remember the rivers were to be replaced by the rivers 2…the only reason the rivers were kept was because they needed the rivers 2 as a replacement for escorts….to entrench that position would be a very bad idea.
One size does not fit all. We should not be sending the same ship for a strategic engagement with the Maldives as with Japan; nor for naval exercises with the United States as exchanging anti-smuggling best practices with the Senegalese coast guard. There’s a whole slew of countries for which a T31 is too big or too much of a statement. Whether that’s because their infrastructure can’t handle it, their coastal vessels are too small to take advantage of exercising with it, or those worried that engaging with a British warship would send the wrong message to China.
For every Japan or India, for whom the OPVs are indeed a placeholder, there are three or four other countries for whom it’s exactly the right size. I haven’t forgotten the original plan; I just don’t agree with it. The world has changed and doctrine has changed. Why should plans remain the same? I recall a speech by James Heappey a few years ago when he acknowledged this point and suggested that we shouldn’t necessarily withdraw all the B2s.
Yes. I’d like to see a proper escort in the South Atlantic again alongside the FIGS, and I think a Type 31 would be good for the job, if we get enough of them. As things stand, nineteen might be the maximum of our escort numbers. Let China turn up for exercises off South Africa mob-handed if they want. We can’t match that strategy.
Remember the difference between you and me isn’t whether the Type 31s should be forward based, we both agree on that, it’s whether the B2 OPVs should be withdrawn. So your argument that the T31s must replace the OPVs because it gives a meaningful capability fails. We can have both and we should have both and as I say, it needn’t cost a lot. We can add what we both agree is meaningful capability without losing what I believe is also meaningful capability.
We are currently only using ARCIMS for mine hunting, so the motherships would be Stirling Castle etc (another planned five-ship class). I don’t deny it would be nifty to have a lot of 11m autonomous boats to do unspecified things in the EEZ, but you really aren’t selling me on mothership capability for this as a necessary requirement for the B1 replacements. I’ve explained what I want the B2s to do, so why don’t you explain what you want the 11m SEA autonomous boats to do that both requires three OPVs as carriers and which an 8m boat (which can fit on the Cape class) can’t do? If it’s just to patrol fixed infrastructure in the North Sea, run them from an oil rig.
Cape Class is a bit too racy a design don’t you think? Flower class corvette or Castle class maybe 🙂
An opportunity for some creative thinking when we replace the Archers.
First, Pitcairn is in the middle of an 850,000 square km marine environmental protection zone which the UK has a legal obligation to protect. A Chinese fishing fleet could destroy that in a week.
Second, the UK has been working with Australia to support the small island republics near the zone – providing training and assistance to their small navies and marine services in supporting the civil power. The intention is to ensure the region does not seek Chinese assistance. In doing so the UK is not alone as other European nations are also working to discourage an expansion of Chinese power in the Pacific. German, Dutch and French warships are also frequent visitors to the South Pacific.
Third, it is in the UK’s wider interests to demonstrate an engagement with the Asia-Pacific region. Asia-Pacific accounts for around 37% of world GDP and in excess of 40% of European trade passes through the area. Long term it will be the epicentre of the world economy.
Quite possibly so but just how long a solitary T31 would last is debatable, it’s a lovely cuddly, Politically nice expression of support. But in a real “shitshow” it’s just like the pre WW2 Far East Fleet it’s “cannon fodder”. I make no secret of being Sub surface orientated, but they have their limitations but just 1 Astute forward deployed in Australia is all the presence needed (and it’s in the AUKUS plan so non negotiable).
I’m also a realist and given that any increase in the surface fleet beyond that presently planned is unlikely I would keep out Frigates at home (except for periodic CSG deployments). We have to accept that an SDR is in progress and they will be asking all sorts of questions, and trying to reduce costs without cutting capability 🤞🏻.
Facts are that right now we are desperately short of Frigates, RFA and crews in general and we are presently supporting 1 T23 Forward deployed in Bahrain which requires 2 crews. So adding another 1 or 2 even further away is just asking for an Axe.
Personally I’d slightly up gun the B2 Rivers and in a few years time order a larger version just like the C3 VT “Global Corvette”.
I actually find it quite funny that we seem to be going back to the original concept for the T23 Frigates. C1 (T26), C2 (T31), C3(B2 River etc).
As for the “shitshow” everyone seems to forget that Japan and S Korea have nearly 50 modern SSKs between them and far larger fleets than we do.
In reality, what that 31 would be doing if it kicked of would be running hard..but what it will have is the radar,soft kill, AAW and AAW guns to fight off any attacks it may suffer beyond the first chain islands..if it was caught in well inside the first chain on its tod, like any single escort it would be dead..but as long as it was not deep in the first chain it would have a chance of running..later it would be a decent escort to integrate into surface action groups for the first campaign, before any other visible RN vessels could arrive. A B2 river gets caught by a maritime patrol or surface vessel and it got not a hope in hell…re sub surface..china only has 10 SSNs but lots of electric boats so as long as you can run really fast….
With the B2, remember one of our key vulnerabilities as a nation is our sub sea infrastructure and to protect that we need good sized OPVs with deck space and cranes for autonomous vessels..and the Rivers 2 will be perfect for that. Remember as well by 2030 the rivers ones will be coming up to 30 and they have been worked to the bone.so they are gone and the only replacement is the present rivers 2..so they are coming home that’s just the reality unless the RN decided to build more OPVs and go all low end like the French.
just thinking re the upgunned B2 rivers….consider how the French and Italian navies are balancing their fleets for the 30s
Italy is going for a more diffused set of capabilities with every ship able to participate in the long range area AAW battle as well as the ASW battle.
2 13,000ton very high end AAW heavy destroyers with ASW capability, ASuW and land attack.
2 7000ton high end AAW destroyers with ASW capabilities. ASuW and land attack
8 7000ton high end ASW frigates with long range AAW capabilities, ASuW and land attack ( limited)
4 7000ton GP frigates, long range AAW capabilities, ASW, ASuW and land attack.
12 5000 ton patrol frigates, long range AAW capability, ASW capability.
10 1500 ton partrol craft.
France is struggling like the RN around escorts and is now really focused on quality over quantity.
2 7000ton high end AAW destroyers with ASW capabilities. ASuW and land attack
2 high end 7000 ton ASW frigates with enhanced long range AAW defence, ASuW and land attack.
6 high end ASW frigates, with significant land attack punch ( 24 missiles), local area AAW defence only.
5 5000 ton GP frigates, very good ASW, long range AAW area defence, ASuW, land attack.
15 OPVs ( probably) future European OPV.3000 ton, gun and short range AAW.
To be honest the RN really needs as a base line to be at the same level escort wise at the Italian navy ( they have a lot more expensive large ships to protect and more places to be than the Italian navy.
so if it cannot get above 24 frigates and destroyers, maybe a decent sized OPV/patrol frigate is needed..say 4000tons, 6 of them to allow a fleet of 30, with a hanger for a small ship fight, good medium gun (57mm) and say 16 CAMM. The RN Also needs to diffuse is capabilities a bit as well..good hull sonar on the T31, and some of the Mk 41 silos in the 26 and 31 set for Aster 30. As well as the 5 rivers 2 focused on home waters surveillance. If the Italian navy with its pissant budget can get 30 very solid new warships and 10 OPVs..the UK sure as hell can if it bothered to try.
Getting three replacement OPVs of 2,000 tons with say two by 40mm and two by 20mm guns plus 32 CAMM would be possible to replace the B1 OPVs.
Deployment options would be one to Pacific and two to the Middle East with overhauled B2 OPVs replacing the B1 around the UK with two 20mm guns and 32 CAMM added during the overhaul.
I must agree with you Jonathon. The Indo-Pacific is a powder keg awaiting a spark. With several belligerents willing to provide that spark at a time of their choosing. The number one threat has to be the evil CCP and if Trump somehow fails to win the election. I’d bet my pension on a major war before 2030. If Harris wins, we could see Taiwan and others invaded next year before AUKUS is implemented.
The US can deter them but the current administration, president/VP are clueless and weak. I honestly can’t see our woke Two Tier socialists taking a hard stance either. They could be planning to stand in solidarity with their comrades in China when the inevitable happens. Making sure with this “review” that our armed forces are incapable of taking action. Thereby guaranteeing we shirk our duty to the anglosphere. Lets hope I’m wrong.
That’s why an Astute SSN is proposed to be based in Oz although how we do that with our numbers is a valid question. Keep the Batch 2s out there doing some excellent but low key work and send the first Type 31 to the Gulf region.
Replace the Batch 1 Rivers with something perhaps similar in size but with the ability to use drones for above and below water surveillance?
Maybe as suggested above what the RN needs is a solid patrol frigate for places like the Indian Ocean and safer parts of the pacific. That’s is what the two other big European navies are doing.
Italy is going for
2 Ultra high end 13,000 ton essentially cruisers for its CBG
14-16 high end escorts 7000 ton AAW/ASW/ASuW
12ish bog standard GP patrol frigates at 5000
10 patrol craft with a small ship fight, medium gun.
With the B2 rivers, looking to 2030 maybe they should be used as they were designed for patrolling home waters and maybe the North Atlantic patrol, they will be solid for that. Then have a fleet of 24 proper escorts ( 7000 tons mixed T45, T26, T31) and say 6 patrol frigates..actual patrol frigates ( not the T31…build a pretend patrol frigate make it 6000 tons and but 32 MK41 silos on it)..around 4000 tons that can pop around the pacific, but also participate if there is an indopacific war.
Umm…er…what exactly is a pretend patrol frigate? 🤔 Not certain that category has a NATO classification. 😉
It’s the class of ship you get when you go ohh we need a patrol frigate…then accidentally on purpose end up with a powerful ASuW focused 6000-7000 ton large surface combatant…
The RB2s were absolutely not designed for patrolling home waters. They were designed for global deployment, because the B1s, despite occasional trips to North America, were just a bit too uncomfortable when continent hopping. Having successfully tried out HMS Clyde in the South Atlantic, the 90m length was deemed just right. Also because BAE said they were designed for global deployment and as the designers they should probably know.
HMS Trent already seems to be doing just fine in Atlantic Patrol (North), as will Medway when it gets back again. After all that’s one of the roles they were actually designed for. It was only in 2015 when the RN were deciding what they would do with the three OPVs already under construction (originally against the prevailing RN wishes) that they decided they wanted a couple of extra B2s for the Indo-Pacific.
Indeed. Used to keep patrol ships in Hong Kong prior to the handover and these constituted a useful presence in the region.
Deterring CCP expansion into the Pacific seems perfect use for the T31s. River B2s deter nobody.
It’s one of the often forgot and rare good news points of the RN we have no frigates debate that we have a fleet of 9 OPV’s and most of them are deployed around the world.
When we had 30 to 50 frigates and most of them were little more than barely armed patrol vessels like the T21 having them on jollies across the pacific was fine. Now frigates are billion pound cruiser sized vessels they need to be kept closer to home. Looks like there is not much hope of T32 now so hopefully we can keep the B2 rivers and keep them deployed on far flung patrols.
Not really a patrol frigate is not the same as an OPV and the threat level was different as well. Your average RN patrol frigate in the 1970s would have 1 medium gun 4.5 inch ( AAW capable), a couple of light AA guns ( 20-40mm), some from of SAM, maybe heavyweight Antiship missiles, hull mounted sonar and a way to attack submarine contacts including a small ship flight. a rivers OPV has a 30mm light gun, that is it.
Going back to WWII, a large proportion of our escort fleet comprised small Destroyers that couldn’t even be considered ocean-going.
The Type 21s had a 4.5 inch gun, a Wasp or Lynx helicopter, Seacat, Escorts and torpedos with a torpedo launcher. They weren’t barely armed patrol vessels.
But the Rivers are doing an excellent job and armed appropriately for their tasking. Ideally we would order replacements for the batch 1s instead of expecting T31 to pick up the slack. Building some fresh Rivers could be good for keeping Appledore going.
*exocet not escort
Anti aircraft they were worse than a late WW2 destroyer.
Should be upgraded to a 40mm Bofors or even better a 57mm Bofors both are being fitted to the Type 31.
At least a 40mm Bofors, as the Navy lookout peice on the T31 states that the Bofors needs 30% less maintenance than a 30mm, so crew levels would not need to be upped.
Just the 40mm and possibly upgrading the radar would endow the Rivers so much more security, especially if combined with a marine detachment with LMM.
AA
I wonder why the Arafuras never got their 40mms, or is that still on the cards eventually?
They are based on a design that features the 57mm Bofors so maybe they should have stuck to that.
With 30% less maintenance than the 30mm I wonder what the numbers would look like for total 10 year expenditure of 40mm vs 30mm if HMG took an upfront hit to drive replace all 30mm in the RN with 40mm.
With 40mm already introduced with the T31 thus currently needing logistics and support for both 30mm and 40mm I would hope that as well as reducing maintenance on individual guns it could also give other savings by completely dispensing with 30mm logistics (parts, training etc) and maybe economies of scale for parts and ammo purchases by having it all 40mm.
With so much of the fleet up for renewal now – MRSS, FSS and T83 not yet specified, T26 hopefully with space & time to switch to 40mm during build, and other big ships such as QEC & Tides hopefully not having any space constraints- it would be doable wouldn’t it, if the will and financing was there? I wonder what the break even point would be in terms of years for such a project to make sense.
I think for cost affective the 40mm is a good choice, non deck penetrating and the ability to defend itself if needs be with a radar upgrade and the addition of a Peregrine UAV would improve the River batch 2’s for little cost and distribution
Off Topic, it seems a Japanese destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait this week for the first time and two German ships earlier this month
Something which is interesting is that the Navy didn’t want these Batch 2 Rivers: yet they have been super useful. Contrast to those programmes like Ajax where the end users provided all the requirements and it’s a massive mess! Shows the value d&eas delivers!
A pity that they are just armed with pop-guns!
The Navy top brass were in a very difficult position with the B2s because the Government had to order something because of the contractual tie up with BAE. However, if they had been better armed then they would have been faced with a battle with its most implacable enemy. This is not the combined fleets of Spain and France, The German High Seas Fleet or even the combined navies of the Axis but HM Treasury.
They would have proposed the 5 vessels ordered were actually light frigates and we would not have the 5 Type 31s. Budget allocations would have been accordingly reduced.
So although they are not well armed they are far superior to many light frigates in terms of range and survivability.
This a very annoying aspect of U.K. defence strategy and procurement because it is not decided by defence experts but by HM Treasury. It has been like it since at least the 1960s.
On the subject of British ships forward deployed in the Asia Pacific region, spare a moment to remember HMS Thanet (H29).
In Hong Kong on the China Station on 8th December 1941, Thanet departed after the Japanese assault of the city had begun, and reached Singapore. From there on 26th January 1942 Thanet, accompanying HMAS Vampire, sought out and engaged the screen of Admiral Ozawa’s invasion convoy off Endau. This was an aggressive intercept in the face of overwhelming numbers, something you might not have known happened in this region in early 1942.
RIP to those lost.