As the holiday season begins, the Royal Navy remains prepared to respond to global and national challenges, with 21 Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels deployed or on short notice to respond if required, according to a press release from the Royal Navy.
While ships such as HMS Portland and HMS Iron Duke have returned home for Christmas after demanding deployments, the Royal Navy emphasises its continuous operational readiness.
These 21 vessels include a mix of surface ships, submarines, and auxiliary support ships, ensuring a robust presence in key areas and readiness to protect UK interests over the festive period.
The fleet’s flexibility ensures it can respond to a wide range of scenarios, from maritime security operations to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The Royal Navy’s operational readiness over the festive period highlights its year-round dedication to maintaining national defence and supporting allied commitments, regardless of the season.
We recently reported that the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), which provides essential logistical support for the Royal Navy, is currently operating with only one active tanker, RFA Tidesurge.
Other tankers are temporarily sidelined due to routine maintenance and staffing challenges.
While this situation may appear concerning at first glance, the Ministry of Defence has reassured that current operations remain unaffected. A Royal Navy spokesperson said:
“The Royal Fleet Auxiliary provides crucial support to the delivery of Royal Navy operations around the world, and we continue to meet all of our global commitments.
The numbers of available ships fluctuate due to routine maintenance commitments; these are factored into the operational requirements of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, which are kept under constant review to ensure we meet our commitments for current and future operations.”
However, ongoing industrial action by RFA personnel since August 2024 has added complexity. Strikes over pay disputes, with workers citing a real-terms pay reduction of up to 36% over the past decade, have limited the ability of some ships to operate.
The reduction in tanker availability, while relatively fine for the reduced taskings at this time of year, also highlights longer-term challenges for the RFA, including recruitment and retention issues that mirror broader trends across the Royal Navy. Addressing these underlying concerns will be key to ensuring the RFA remains capable of supporting the Royal Navy’s global commitments.
Despite the immediate challenges, we understand that plans are already in place to bring additional tankers online in the New Year as and when required. These efforts suggest the situation, while not ideal, is being actively managed.
They key is not 21 vessels but the mix of those vessels.. In my old ED I could tell you I had 21 staff on shift, but if those 21 staff were healthcare assistance you it would not be a functioning ED, you would need a mix of consultant, staff grade, F2, very Senior nurse to run it, senior nurses, staff nurses, plaster techs, radiographers, care assistants etc…
So what is the mix, do they have ASW frigates, AAW destroyers, an amphibious vessel, patrol vessels, mine warfare, SSN, ect… they don’t need to tell the numbers for operational security. But they should give assurance all types of core ship are available. In the end the MOD is ultimately accountable to the electorate via political process.
Nice points. It’s like they want to overwhelm us with numbers rather than facts. I’m willing to be Russia has more ships within 250 miles of Britain than we have in operational service.
Err. No, they won’t.
19 Archers probably.
One Bomber, 1 x Falklands 1 x Gib. The river in the far east, sweeper in the Gulf. Frigate in the gulf. That’s at first glance.
21 vessels on standby? Really? I didn’t think we had 21 vessels in active service let alone on standby……..I would love to see a list of said vessels…..
Most will be auxiliary,patrol boats and training ships,they couldn’t even escort the Russians through the Chanel for lack of ships.
Paul shut up you don’t know nothing keep your thoughts to yourself on this unless you know the job keep you safe when your eating your
Christmas dinner I hope you’re think of boys and girls who keep you safe happy Christmas 🎅
His point is valid, I have full respect for everyone working to keep society safe and functioning over Christmas and at all the other times, but government statements deliberately intended to mislead deserve calling out to ensure the Navy gets the funding and actual warships it and the crews require and deserve
21 ships what a load of nonsense. They can barley put a fleet together. This is Government propaganda. Russians clearly have military assets closer than we are aware. We don’t have the manpower or people to staff these ships. 22 ships numbers plucked out of thin air. Russians are laughing at us.
So the Royal Navy can currently put 21 vessels to sea on short notice but I keep reading on here that we are completely defenceless and have no navy. 🤔
As mentioned elsewhere it depends on what those “vessels” are and also what “standby” means….
Either way I hope as many crew as possible get to be home for Christmas and very grateful to those who have to be away from home.
21 ships deployed or on short notice if required! Numbers mean nothing by themselves. Would the Royal Navy have sufficiently trained crew to operate 21 shops at the same time. Many of us have read articles written by senior former military staff that disclose Britain’s military is seriously short of top notch fighting equipment and personnel. It’s all very well having lots of high ranking well paid staff but when push comes to shove equipment and personnel numbers count. Each year we now have more people leaving the armed services than are recruited. What does this suggest?
Apologies for some typos. I don’t seem to be able to correct them
Wer wouldn’t have a personnel shortage if we were still allowed to be proud if being British and our forces had prioritised the employment of people who want to join, rather than chasing people who don’t want to apply so they can make up the numbers. The armed forces are currently appealing to exactly the people who will never put their lives on the line for Britain, let alone for other people.
Yes motivated patriots, resilient ones at that. Those wanting to be part of something that has value and respect.
Yes they have crews
21 ??? How long to get some of these out to state of readiness ? How many pathetic little patrol boats which don’t even routinely carry even a GPMG are included in this stretched truth !!!!
Is that including rowing boats and toy boats floating in the admirals baths?
Be interesting to see how many RFA’s are on standby for Xmas… only one Tide as far as I can see
21 on standby, perhaps someone would care to explain why two Russian Warshios were allowed to sail unescorted through the English Channel? Which vessel was supposed to be on escort duty?
Which Warships and when did they sail through the English Channel ?.
Reportedly a frigate and a Ropucha-class landing ship. December 17th. You know what the Russians are like, so even the landing ships can have a 76mm main gun along with two 30mms, SAMs, etc.
Unless we are planning to replace the Archer class in the next few years, perhaps we need to update them to take the larger engine and 20mm gun they were originally designed for.
We really need a class of French-style light OPVs.
About 40m long, with a decent RWS and the endurance to get to Gibraltar and the Baltic by themselves.
Apparently there is an opportunity to go along with the Border Force in replacing their large cutters.
Paint them in dazzle and give them lots of light drones and they could even replace the RB1s.
If we get 10-12 of them, that is.
We have enough OPVs we don’t have enough crews the crew we do have need to be on proper warships.
Given this statement, perhaps the RN would care to explain why two Russian Warshios were allowed to sail unescorted through the English Channel? Which vessel was supposed to be on escort duty?
Were they escorted “underwater”?
Thanks, I’d missed that titbit.
A type 23 escorted the LST, corvette and 2 (Ursa and Sparta) transport through the channel. Contrary to claims made by a retired RFA officer, all vessels were photographed AND active on AIS throughout the transit.
We normally have a Type 23 assigned to home waters/escort duty At one time it was HMS Somerset. The idea is to demonstrate a physical RN presence, I believe it was queried and it was said the were insufficient assets available…..
Paul, a type 23 was there shadowing the group…
Yes of course we have , HMS warrior, victory , Carlisle , Belfast …..
Yes it seems that Russia undertook its right to transit the English Channel and did not have a RN escort, that’s a pretty bad laps of capability as it’s not exactly a high end job do something as fundamental as escorting a non Allied nations ( read enemy) warships through your straits..sends a real message that does.
The reality is this reflects the collapse of the RNs major surface combatant fleet and the fact it’s been propped up by patrol ships that should be closer to home doing patrol stuff..like escorting enemy surface combatants.
Type 23 was there shadowing thr group from Denmark to Biscay, same as always.
All ships were photographed in the TSS off Dover.
As a civi reading all the messages just what is the real state of play old chaps
Ahhh great,their icking down our borders🙄 probably to keep Santa outta this now defunct Christian nation,can’t have Santa coming into a Muslim cuntry,yeah we’ve officially lost the great in Britain,I very much doubt anything works on those dhips
I’m told, on good authority, that the RN have sufficient ships to dispatch within hours of LAMMY leaving a foreign country…friend or foe!
It’s really a shame that the people who have fought and died for this country, and those that are still living don’t get the respect or consolidation that they deserve, if the so called government carried some much why are our x soldiers on the bread line, this would never happen in France, they look after there A O P and x service men better than this country could ever do, shame on the so called British Government, shower of dung
21 does seem a small number to those of us that served in earlier days, however we do not know the range of tasks that modern electronics enable a single unit to undertake. Furthermore, is it not possible that aerial and electronic surveillance could replace the 200 or so men required to Man the average frigate and thus be a better use of limited resources?.
This article is just another example of Gaslighting the population. That Navy doesn’t have 21 ships. 2 aircraft carriers, 6 daring class less than 9 type 23′,s so if all were operational which they are not that is 17 total. Everything else are either patrol craft, fisheries or the mighty P2000’s (no weapons at all).
So the navy probably has a frigate a submarine and a shed load of P2000’s. That’s the truth of the matter. WEAK.