Thirty-three Royal Navy warships have been taken out of operational service since 2010, of which eight have been sold, fifteen recycled and ten are still waiting to be disposed of, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Andrew Rosindell, the Reform UK member for Romford, had asked how many warships had been taken out of service, sold or scrapped in each year since 2010.
Luke Pollard, Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry, said: “Since 2010, 33 Royal Navy warships have been taken out of operational service. Of these, 8 have been sold, 15 have been recycled and 10 are pending disposal.
“As vessels may be withdrawn from service in one year and sold or scrapped in a later year, these categories are not mutually exclusive, and the figures should not be aggregated.
“As set out in the Defence Investment Plan, this Government is investing in new frigates, amphibious ships, new submarines and new standardised vessels alongside a new Hybrid Navy of uncrewed and autonomous systems to increase our Navy’s lethality and deterrence.”
Thirteen new frigates are being built across two classes, eight Type 26 anti-submarine ships on the Clyde and five Type 31 general purpose ships at Rosyth, and Norway has since selected the Type 26 design for its own fleet. Three Fleet Solid Support ships are under construction to resupply the carrier groups, new transport ships are planned to take over from the amphibious and Bay class vessels. The submarine service is completing the Astute class before moving to the four Dreadnought ballistic missile boats and then to SSN-AUKUS attack submarines, which ministers have said will be delivered at a rate of one every eighteen months from the mid-2030s.
The period covered includes the retirement of the Type 42 destroyers, the progressive withdrawal of the Type 23 frigates, and the decision to dispose of the amphibious assault ships Albion and Bulwark, the latter of which is being sold to Brazil.
The damage done by Cameron and Osborne was immense, across all services. Done at the same time as increasing aid to 0.7% of GDP to virtue signal.
Billions spent on military operations that were none of our business such as Libya
Part of an EU collective zombie mind of net zero, coupling to Putin’s gas network and a centre left policy on migration, and an infiltration of all aspects of Governance.
Same across all services. It will come home to roost if we see civil disorder. Lack of courts, prisons, cells, public order units, stretched capacity in fire service , emergency planning and energy resilience.
They will have to call in the army, already overstretched.
Planned vandalism.
No wonder many people answer no to the question of fighting for their own country.
The challenge is to change the way the country is run so that young people in particular feel everyone gets a fair shout. Interesting to see the schoolchildren leading street protests across the channel. The French have screwed themselves up – quite an achievement for such a gifted country. Burnham is spot on in prioritising the issue of education, career paths, apprenticeships and the disgraceful number of young people not in education, training or employment: also the issue of affordable housing. Thatcher once said ‘there is no such thing as society’. Cameron and Osborne were acting out that philosophy and the Tories almost succeeded. That said, it was good to hear Burnham say that while this country is not perfect, it gave his parents a good life and it’s worth fighting for. We have to get into that mindset.
33 warships leaving service over 15 years is pretty normal for a fleet that should number in the 70-80 vessel range. it’s the lack of ships replacing them that’s the problem.
we have 16 ordered an in production and we are likely to add another 16 in the next few years, if we maintain all this then we are likely to have a decent sized fleet in the next decade again especially if we can get the 4 amphibious ship replacements and possible 6 new multi role mine counter measure vessels that Norway is hinting at and 6 RORO point class replacements too.
The Tories are being blamed for an awful lot in defence terms, some of which is undoubtedly true, but let’s look at the facts.
In terms of major Royal Navy combatants two Incincibles have been disposed of since 2010, but one of those had already been decommissioind; eight Type 42’s, four Type 22, six Type 23 and six Trafalgar class. Pollard is now saying that Labour is investing in new ships. He is talking of course about four Dreadnoght class, the Astute class, the eight Type 26 and the five Type 31. What he does not say is that they were ordered by the previous Tory government.
Let’s look at the RAF. The Tories were without doubt responsible for the withdrawal of the last of the Harriers and later, as it was replaced by the Typhoon, the Tornado FGR4. Contrast this with Blair/Brown. The Tornado F3, the Jaguar and the Sea Harrier were all disposed of in the early 2000’s. GCAP, later Tempest was planned by the Tories.
I have no problem criticising politicians of any party but let’s start with reality. Labour have been in power for almost two and a half years. What has their contribution been to date. The answer is next to nothing. It is for them to PROVE that they intend to DEFEND THE UK NOW..