Thin Pinstriped Line

Life in the Royal Navy is less about preparing for war, and more   like spending time on the loveboat. That seems to be the gist of quite a few stories in the media today which breathlessly relate to the news that since 2005 35 women sailors from 18 different ships have been airlifted to shore as a result of becoming pregnant and discovering this while they were at sea. This news has been met with shock and horror by some commentators online, some of which seem rather in the 'internet hardman' school. At least one Daily Mail reader suggested that Chasity belts should form part of naval uniform for female members of the naval service (presumably in the RN kit record book it would be recorded as a ‘Torpedo Protection Belt’?). Is the nation being let down by a bunch of serial shaggers in uniform or is perhaps the truth of the matter a little more complex than originally conceived? Type 45 at sea- Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright The specific FO...

The Royal Navy has found itself the target of a number of media articles recently focusing both on its current ship availability for the escort force, and also its future construction plans. The charge is that too few ships are available, and too few ships are planned to be built, and something is fundamentally going wrong. Is this criticism fair, or is it perhaps misplaced? The availability of escort ships is a perennial topic of concern to many commentators. On paper the RN has 19 escorts available, of which 13 are Type 23 Frigates and 6 Type 45 destroyers. In reality 2 of these are in very long term low readiness (one Type 45 and one Type 23), providing a credible force of about 17 escorts which are in the programme at any one time. Today of this force of 17 ships, 9 are active (7 x Type 23 and 2 x Type 45), with a further 5 Type 23s in longer term ‘LIFEX’ refits to provide them additional life capacity (including the fitting of a new missile system), and three Type 45s ar...

The situation in the Gulf remains challenging following the illegal Iranian seizure of the British flagged tanker MV Stena Impero on Friday 19 July. There are suggestions that the UK has failed in this situation due to not sufficient ships, not sufficient coverage and a failure to expect an Iranian response. Is this criticism fair or is it unjust? The first thing to recognise is that this situation is naturally frustrating – to see a UK flagged merchant vessel boarded in this manner and forced into the harbour of a foreign power with the Royal Navy seemingly powerless to stop it generates an extremely emotive response. It naturally feels unjust and humiliating. But could more have been done? The Gulf is an extremely complex operating environment that plays home to multiple naval forces. All the local countries have some form of naval force, of varying levels of capability and complexity. The most potent regional power in the Gulf is probably Iran, due to its possession of a r...

Media outlets are reporting that the Royal Navy is to send a further escort ship (HMS KENT) to the Middle East later in the summer, supported by an RFA tanker. This on paper represents a significant scaling up of the existing RN force in the Gulf, which has already been bolstered by the despatch of HMS DUNCAN last week to the region. This force increase is coming on the back of the growing tensions between the UK and Iran over the   detention of the tanker MV Grace 1 by the Royal Marines off Gibraltar has led to threats from Iran to seize a UK vessel in retaliation. Last week HMS MONTROSE was involved in an incident with Iranian forces, robustly ensuring that some small attack craft did not threaten the legitimate passage through the Strait of Hormuz by the tanker MV British Heritage. Following this encounter, it was announced that HMS DUNCAN would also be dispatched to the region too. The question is whether this further breaking news, yet to be officially confirmed ...

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH has returned to her home port in Portsmouth ahead of schedule, following reports of a leak onboard. The MOD has confirmed that a minor leak occurred, while the media is reporting that 200 tonnes of water escaped onto the ship, flooding compartments and causing bulkheads and decks to buckle. How serious is this issue, and is there cause for concern? Modern warships are built to go to sea in order to fight in extremely stretching and challenging conditions. Royal Navy warships are built in order to operate across the full spectrum of operations and in a vast variety of conditions. In other words, they are intended to be highly survivable and able to absorb and contain significant damage and flooding. There is a multitude of systems and pipes on a warship – you only have to look around to see all manner of pipework for different purposes from firefighting mains through to cable runs or air conditioning pipework. It is an auster...

On Thursday 4 July Royal Marines from 42 Commando seized a supertanker off the coast of Gibraltar, suspected of smuggling oil on behalf of the Iranian regime. This has led to an increase in threats to UK shipping in the Middle East as a result. This operation is notable for several reasons. Firstly, the use of 42 Cdo personnel provides an excellent demonstration of the value in refocusing part of the Corps towards the maritime security role. In 2017 the RM underwent a significant change, losing around 200 posts and refocusing their efforts away from being a light role infantry force that was in danger of losing its distinctly naval identity, to one far more closely linked into the future of the Royal Navy. These changes included a deep look at the value of the amphibious shipping force, for example did the UK still need to retain the two LPD’s ALBION and BULWARK to conduct amphibious landings, or was the future far more about small discrete commando raids, rather than try...