This snapshot of the Royal Navy escort fleet status shows the condition of individual ships and their current activities.
Currently, 47.37% of the Royal Navy’s escort vessels (Type 45 Destroyers and Type 23 Frigates) are active or immediately deployable.
This percentage reflects the ongoing challenges of maintaining a modern and technologically advanced fleet while addressing crewing concerns.
The data suggests that, while there are some vessels in maintenance or refit, the Royal Navy is maintaining a relatively high level of fleet availability. Special thanks to Open Source Intelligence analyst and UK naval commentator Britsky (@TBrit90) for supplying the data.
Now, here are the figures:
Type 45 Destroyers
Total Number: 6, Currently Active: 2 (33.33% of the class), Currently Unavailable: 4 (66.67% of the class)
- HMS Daring: Unavailable
- HMS Dauntless: Active/Deployable
- HMS Diamond: Unavailable
- HMS Dragon: Unavailable
- HMS Defender: Unavailable
- HMS Duncan: Active/Deployable
Type 23 Frigates
Total Number: 9, Currently Active: 5 (55.56% of the class), Currently Unavailable: 4 (44.44% of the class)
- HMS Lancaster: Active/Deployable
- HMS Iron Duke: Active/Deployable
- HMS Northumberland: Unavailable
- HMS Richmond: Active/Deployable
- HMS Somerset: Active/Deployable
- HMS Sutherland: Unavailable
- HMS Kent: Unavailable
- HMS Portland: Unavailable
- HMS St Albans: Active/Deployable
The availability of Type 45 Destroyers has increased by 16.66% (from 16.67% to 33.33%), while the availability of Type 23 Frigates has risen by 25.56% (from 30% to 55.56%) compared to the previous snapshot published.
The recent trend, particularly within the Type 45 Destroyers and Type 23 Frigates, shows a positive shift towards increased operational availability.
As I said last time, earlier in the year, a lower percentage of these ships were active or immediately deployable, with the majority undergoing maintenance or refit. However, recent data indicates a marked improvement, with more ships transitioning from maintenance to active status.
This improvement is particularly notable in the Type 23 Frigates, where the percentage of active ships has risen significantly, reflecting better fleet management and possibly more efficient maintenance practices.
The removal of HMS Argyll from service has also played a role in this trend. While this reduced the overall number of Type 23 Frigates from 10 to 9, it has not hindered the increase in the percentage of active or deployable ships. On the contrary, the focus has seemingly shifted to maintaining the readiness of the remaining vessels, leading to a higher proportion of the fleet being operational.
The Royal Navy has managed to enhance the availability of the fleet despite the reduction in total numbers. This trend suggests a strategic shift in the Royal Navy’s approach to fleet readiness and operational capacity. By improving the availability of its remaining vessels, the Royal Navy has increased its ability to respond to operational demands.
The data, in summary, indicates a focus on maximising the utility of the existing fleet, ensuring that a more significant percentage of ships are prepared for immediate deployment when needed.
Over half of our frigates are available would be a lot more of a positive if it wasn’t half of 9……..
It is a bit meaningless when it doesn’t approximate days to sail for those in refurb.
At least one of the T45, marked unavailable, could sail in an emergency as it is pretty close to being ready.
Which one?
We need at least double the numbers of everything except carriers. Those could do with full airwings and two score or more F35B in reserve with the RAF. Along with a new class of very advanced none nuclear submarines. Specialised for coastal water ops in the North Sea, Baltic, Med and continental shelf work around the Falkland Islands.
About as much chance of that as designing and building a new fully British MBT. With orders placed for 1000 vehicles and the full range of derivatives.
Amazing what happens to the stats when you scrap a couple of frigates mid refit!
And let’s not forget questions remain on Northumberland and out of the 5 active only Lancaster is on operations away from The UK.
So we have 7 frigates / destroyers in operation today .if we could get to 11 in service that would be much healthier . We need more frigates or corvettes
This should be normal or actually slightly sub-standard. 1/3 unavailable should be normal, above that good. That it has got so bad with such a tiny escort force is criminal, a disgrace. We’re no longer a global empire, thankfully, & no longer a super power. But we are a permanent member of the UN security council, main maritime NATO member in Europe & global trading Island nation with outposts across the world. We need a strong navy with an escort force far larger than the few we have allowed ourselves to sink to. Allies should be relying on us rather… Read more »
Half of almost nothing is still rotten. We need to up our game…..the T45s have been a disappointment in availability terms and the T23s are like Triggers broom.
By time the T26 & T31s rock up the T23s will be scrappers. So in what 6 years we will be losing these hulls as quickly as new ones arrive.
This is a rubbish statistic trick, if we only had one frigate and it was available, that would be 100% available.
What we actually need to look at is the average number available each year to see if we’re doing well or not.
If in 2010 we had 4 frigates available and now we have 5, that’s an improvement or as we all suspect, we had 8 to 10 available out of a much higher number then were not doing very well. Wars are not won on percentage of ships available
You can dress it up any way you want the message is still dire. Add in the submarine fleet and LPD and it is beyond hope.
Yep…..stats say whatever u like unless u actually look at the numbers
Scrapping Northumberland would ‘improve’ the stats even more!
Thought there were supposed to be 13 frigates, I’m no mathematician but I’m sure 5 of 13 isn’t over half. If the brilliant MOD get rid of the 4 unavailable ships we’d have 100% availability…excellent.
Well Minister, you did say that you want the [ship availability] statistics improved?
Humphrey I didn’t mean to do it like that.
Minister, I am not a mind reader. You asked for better statistics. These are better statistics.
Etc, etc I’ve only changed a few words from an actual Yes, Minster script.
🤣🤣
It isn’t especially useful to quote per cent availability of the fleet to two decimal places when you’re talking about fewer than 10 hulls. No-one is going to gain any useful statistical insight from that versus saying ‘5 of 9 available’.
It’s not 5 active from 9 frigates, it’s 5 from 13 frigates. The fleet is 13 frigates but we lost 4 due to them being over worked and so decrepit they had to be scrapped before the replacement is ready.
These things make our enemies feel better.
So its a 9-frigate fleet then. Got to live in the real world.
9 that can be deployable but the fleet is 13, otherwise we would be building 9 not 13 to replace the fleet. But yeah I know what you are saying, the real world is just 9. Saw the German plan for the new F126, seems more like a cruiser but without a cruiser air dominance.
Ha! Now there is a classic Glass half empty, Glass half full story! The above seems to celebrate the positive aspect of an improvement in the active Frigate fleet, whilst the Mailonline, the newspaper I love to hate, decries the fact that ONLY half of the Frigate numbers are active!!
Surely if there were 10 frigates and 5 are now deployable that is 50% not 55%. I don’t like the way this article is playing the numbers. Arguably we should have 13 frigates and if we are going to retire a weapons system then the availability of the remaining numbers had better be good.
I suspect availability is dire due to age.
Wow. Two carriers without aircraft, no subs, seven escorts and no support ships. Awesome! 😠
Are the carriers being escorted or are they on there Jack’s??
Meaningless statistics . 47% of a low number isnt impressing anyone . We should have 13 frigates we only have 9 , as I understand it none of the escort subs are available either . This is a sorry state of affairs and highlights the desparate need for more ships . By the time the new frigates enter service the type 23,s will probably be reduced in numbers even more as they are well beyond their normal lifespan . The government need to take note of this and start a long term plan to continuously build ships so new hulls… Read more »
Are Submarines not part of the fleet?
Yes, and so are carriers and MCMVs etc etc. This article was just about escorts ie DD/FF.
I wonder how the RN has managed to increase ship availability? Put more resources into maintenance or accepted a slightly lower standard of what constitutes a ship’s availability for tasking?