Commentary: What the U.S. should learn from Britain’s dying navy | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uk-military-navy-commentary-idUSKCN10L1AD
Britain used to boast the most powerful navy in the world. No more.
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Roughly half the ships are in routine maintenance or training at any given time. Several others are committed to small standing patrols, which leaves just a handful of vessels to respond to emergencies.
But that’s assuming there are enough sailors to operate the ships. The Royal Navy has shed people faster than ships. Britain had 39,000 sailors in 2000. It now has a little more than 29,000, at least 2,000 short of its authorized strength.
Fleet planners tried to address the personnel shortage by sidelining two of its most powerful ships. This summer, for example, the Royal Navy placed the large Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster in “ #extended_readiness: It was tied up pierside, its crew assigned to other vessels.
Meanwhile, the new Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless suffered serious problems with generators and entered port for repairs that could last at least until 2019. As with Lancaster, the fleet dispersed Dauntless’ sailors to other vessels.