With the new release of my book, "Beyond the Waves: My Royal Navy Adventures," I thought it would be interesting to look at how the RN has changed over the years. I joined-up in 1986, so I looked for some information relating to how many ships were "serviceable" back then, compared to now; as well as the types of ships. I found an interesting report from the BBC (so it must be FACT) which I attach here.
If we take 1985 as the closest date to that which I entered service, then the report states that there were 4 aircraft-carriers, 2 assault-ships, 41 frigates, and 15 destroyers. A pretty formidable fleet, relatively speaking. Then came the planned cut-backs, and "Options-For-Change" (Which you will get to hear about if you read my book). Things started to go downhill after that... By 2016 (last year), the fleet consisted of NO aircraft-carriers, 3 assault-ships, 13 frigates, and 6 destroyers. Admittedly, we now have a "new" aircraft-carrier, but it is not due to be fully operational until around 2020 (so I hear!).
To quote the Defence Committee Chairman, Julian Lewis,
"The fleet is now way below the critical mass required for the many tasks which could confront it, if the international scene continues to deteriorate."
Food for thought, with the ongoing threats from North Korea, coupled with the ever increasing demand from humanitarian sources (Caribbean hurricane relief), not to mention the terrorist threats at home and worldwide.
To counter this, the MOD state that they are committed to increasing the size of the Royal Navy by investing billions of pounds into the development of 2 new aircraft-carriers, as well as a new submarine fleet, and new warships.
"This major programme of investment will ensure that the Royal Navy remains one of the world's most modern and powerful navies with a genuine global reach," it said in a statement.
We shall see in due course..............
To see how the fleet compared when I was in the RN, read my book, available now from Amazon worldwide. Click through my website HERE to get more details, and to sign-up to my mailing-list (why wade through masses of irrelevant Facebook posts when you can have them delivered direct to your inbox?)
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