[BITList] Fwd: Royal Navy a 'laughing stock' with three quarters of its warships out of action and 'struggling to protect British citizens'

[Michael Feltham]

Further to my original Email.

Mike
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> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/14/royal-navy-laughing-stock-three-quarters-warships-action-struggling/
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> HMS Ocean was sent to the Caribbean for hurricane relief but has now been delayed by engine trouble - contributing to Britain being seen as a 'laughing stock' CREDIT: BRITISH MINITRY OF DEFENCE 
> ·          Con Coughlin, defence editor 
> 14 SEPTEMBER 2017 • 9:30PM
> The Royal Navy can only send a quarter of its warships to sea due to spending cuts which have left the armed forces "struggling to protect Britain's citizens", the Telegraph has learned.
> 
> Currently 13 of the Navy's 19-strong fleet of Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers are unable to go to sea due to a lack of manpower, fuel and supplies, senior military sources have revealed.
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> The cuts to defence spending have also severely hampered Britain’s response to Hurricane Irma.
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>  
> HMS Ocean, the amphibious assault ship that currently serves as the Royal Navy’s flagship, was sent to provide support to the British overseas territories in the Caribbean but suffered engine problems and has now been delayed by a week.
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> The RAF flew a small number of Royal Marines, Royal Engineers and police to the Caribbean after IrmaCREDIT:  JOEL ROUSE /BRITISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
> Tonight the source said that Britain's response has turned the Navy into a "laughing stock".
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> The source said: "The Armed Forces have now been reduced to a level where they struggle to protect British citizens.
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> “Our lacklustre response to Hurricane Irma makes Britain a laughing stock and is the direct result of the government’s cuts to the defence budget."
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> Lord West of Spithead, a former First Sea Lord, added: “What is clearly happening, despite what the defence secretary says, is a hollowing out of defence at the moment.”
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> The Dutch navy unloading supplies off Sint Maarten after it was hit by Irma CREDIT: ANP/DUTCH DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
> The Navy saw its manpower levels reduced by 4,000 to around 30,000 as part of the Government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010, and naval experts say it has had a catastrophic impact on the Senior Service’s war-fighting capabilities. 
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> Senior sources fear that, despite spending currently being ring-fenced at two per cent of GDP, there could be further cuts when the budget is announced in November and are preparing to challenge the Government.
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> The Navy has been particularly badly hit by the Government’s recent wave of defence cuts, and is now suffering severe manpower and equipment shortages. 
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> Although the Navy has a number of ships available for operations, they are unable to put to sea because of the crippling crew shortages. The Navy’s fuel reserves are also said to be so low that there is insufficient to allow available vessels to put to sea.
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> In normal circumstances about one third of the Navy's fleet of surface combat ships - Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers - are in dock undergoing routine maintenance, leaving the rest of the fleet to fulfil operational requirements. But defence cuts mean less than half of these ships are in operation, and has even resulted in HMS Dauntless, a £1 billion state-of-the-art destroyer, effectively being mothballed as a training ship because the Navy does not have the manpower available to crew it.
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> The Navy is particularly short of experienced and highly-qualified engineers, who are crucial to maintaining the Navy’s fleet of hi-tech combat ships.
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> Julian Lewis, the chairman of the House of Commons defence committee, said: “The size of the navy has been massively reduced over the past 20 years – having one ship in the right place at the right time is creditable but not sufficient.
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> “Barely two per cent spent on defence is way too low and defence is far too far down the scale of our national priorities so obviously the fact that we have allowed the size if our Armed Forces to be progressively cut to unsustainably low levels is bound to have an effect on the size of our footprint and our ability to react at scale to crises as they arise.
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> The arrival in the Caribbean of HMS Ocean, the amphibious assault ship that currently serves as the Royal Navy’s flagship, has been delayed because of ongoing engine problems, and is now not due to reach the region until the end of next week. And the Navy’s ability to send a replacement ship has been limited by the fact that it can only put five of its 19-strong fleet of Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers to sea at any one time.
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> Show more
> Delays to Britain’s response to Hurricane Irma, which has caused widespread devastation to a number of British overseas territories in the Caribbean, has prompted widespread criticism in the region.
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> David Burt, the premier of Bermuda, which suffered heavily when 150mph winds and torrential winds swept through the territory last week, said Britain’s response to the crisis was “not as urgent as it could have been”.
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> And aid officials have described Britain’s response to the disaster as being “flat-footed” compared with the governments of France and Holland, which were able to get aid and troops quickly to the scene of the disaster.
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> “Britain’s inadequate response to help the overseas territories hit by Hurricane Irma is the direct result of the Government’s cuts to the defence budget,” said a senior military source.
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> “Cuts to the strength of the Royal Navy meant it had to rely on HMS Ocean, which has a long history of engine problems. And when Ocean ran into difficulties, no other ships were available because of crew shortages and supplies.”
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> HMS Ocean, which has been in service for two decades, is due to be decommissioned following its current mission, leaving Britain incapable of mounting major amphibious warfare operations in future. The ship has a long history of engine problems, and suffered another breakdown while loading supplies at Gibraltar for shipment to hurricane victims of British overseas territories.
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> The ship eventually set sail late on Tuesday evening and is not expected to reach the hurricane-struck islands until at least the end of next week.
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> HMS Dauntless, a £1bn destroyer, is permanently stationed in Portsmouth due to a lack of manpowerCREDIT:  JONATHAN BRADY/ EPA
> Meanwhile Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been sent to the Caribbean to assess the extent of the damage, and the RAF has flown small numbers of troops, Royal Engineers and police to the worst-affected areas as part of the Government’s relief effort. But critics say Britain’s response is badly lacking behind other countries such as the U.S., France and Holland.
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> HMS Dauntless, a £1 billion state-of-the-art Type 45 destroyer, has spent the last year tied up at Portsmouth after being relegated to the role of a training ship because the Navy does not have enough sailors to man it.
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> The Navy’s manpower crisis has been made worse by the need to crew the two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, the first of which, HMS Queen Elizabeth, arrived at Porsmouth last month. The Government is now undertaking new defence review, but senior military officers fear this could result in further cuts as the Treasury looks for savings to fund planned pay increases for public sector workers.
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> A Royal Navy spokesman said HMS Ocean had been subject to “working repairs” while in Gibraltar which had not affected its operational readiness and, while declining to comment on the exact number of Navy combat ships at sea, said it was able to meet its commitments.
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