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The RN has roughly halved in strength since 1990. Many ships have been paid off and this is to be expected as vessels become old, obsolete and expensive to run. An average warship could expect to be retired after 25-30 years. What's surprising is the number of the relatively young warships that have been disposed of. Either they are flogged off to foreign navies (usually at prices well below their current value and at a fraction of the cost of what a new replacement would be) or they are sunk as targets in live firing exercises and occasionally they are sent to the breakers for their small scrap value.

If the government must force the RN to reduce the size of the fleet, this kind of hasty disposal does not make economic sense. The premature disposal of expensively-acquired national assets is a scandal. A warship can take 10 years to design and build and cost hundreds of millions. This kind of penny-pinching short-termism may help the treasury balance the books temporarily and cut out the annual running cost of the vessel but 'selling the family silver' leaves huge holes in the fleet which will take a long time and great expense to replace.

The sensible solution would be to place vessels in reserve where they could be re-activated in a time of crisis or used to replace ships that occasionally get damaged in service (E.g. HMS Nottingham grounded off Australia in 2002 and repaired at vast expense or HMS Grimsby grounded off Norway in 2006). Modern warships with sensitive electronics quickly degrade if not in regular operation and this is often used as an excuse for not maintaining a reserve fleet of any kind. However careful preservation and a small maintenance crew could keep the vessels in good shape at a tiny cost compared to the potential benefits. We would suggest all ships that decommission should go into reserve status for 5 years at least unless they are really falling apart.

Detailed here are some of the examples of vessels disposed of 'before their time'

'Options for Change' was the defence review carried out by the Tory government in 1990 in a hurry to make savings using the so called 'peace dividend' resulting from the end of the Cold War as an excuse. At a time of such uncertainty it was highly questionable to make defence cuts and the World is arguably more unstable now than it was then. Anyway the bean counters in the treasury had their way and forced the RN to make cuts.

4 x Brand new Upholder class (SSK) Submarines.

Commissioned 1990-93 but paid off 1994. Aged between 1-3 years old these are amongst the youngest ever vessels to be paid off. This left the RN with only nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) Since the cold war ended, SSKs would have been particularly useful as they are more suitable for shallow water operations close to land than the SSNs that were left. Unable to find a buyer the 4 Upholders were laid up until 2002 when they were finally reactivated and sold to Canada.

6 x Type 22 (Batch 2) frigates

These were definitely 'cold war warriors' optimised for North Atlantic anti-submarine warfare and requiring large crews. However they had been 'stretched' in length (from the original Batch 1 design) and had the space to allow them to be upgraded to be very useful general-purpose vessels and serve for another 10-15 years. (Maybe to the standard of the subsequent heavily-armed Type 22 Batch 3s, which remain in service today, although targets of possible cuts). Instead of upgrading these young vessels they were sold, scrapped or sunk. To compound the folly, the 2 that were sold to Romania were subject of a corrupt deal involving their refitting. Romania paid over the odds and the treasury received little more than their scrap value.

HMS Boxer - paid off 1999, and sunk as target after just 15 years service. HMS Beaver - paid off 1999, sold for scrap after just 15 years service. HMS Brave - paid off 1999 and sunk as target after just 13 years service. HMS London - paid off 1999, sold to Romania in dubious deal after just 12 years service. HMS Coventry - paid off 2001, sold to Romania in dubious deal after 13 years service. HMS Sheffield - paid off 2002, sold to Chile after just 14 years service.

3 x Hong Kong Patrol ships

HMS Peacock, HMS Plover and HMS Starling were sold to Philippine Navy 1997 after just 13 years service. When Britain handed Hong Kong back to the Chinese government in 1999, the 3 modern patrol ships used for patrolling Hong Kong waters became unemployed. Instead of returning them to the UK and refitting them for future useful RN service, they were of course quickly sold off to the Philippine Navy. They would have been very useful to the RN for either patrolling around the UK or even in the Persian Gulf as they had been designed for hot climates. Currently the RN has a pitiful 3 ships dedicated to patrolling the huge area of UK territorial waters. (And they are rented from their builders).

9 x Mine Countermeasures Vessels (MCMVs)

In a world where terrorists and rogue states could cause havoc with cheap and simple sea mines, MCMVs are more relevant than ever. This Government has been slashing the mine warfare capability of the RN. These ships have small crews, are relatively cheap to run, are seen as unglamorous and low profile. This means cutting a few does not provoke uncomfortable headlines for the government. Besides mine warfare they are also useful as general patrol craft, for training crews and providing command experience for junior officers. Since 2001, 9 MCM vessels have been chopped from the fleet with no new orders likely. The RN is a world leader in MCM and was instrumental in clearing mines during and after the first Gulf war. This specialist expertise and capability is being frittered away as minehunters are disposed of without replacement. By its very nature, mine countermeasures requires lots of vessels to dispose of mines that can be laid quickly in large numbers. For example the RN's simple 'Ton' class Minesweepers, built in the 1950s, comprised 119 Vessels. Many minehunters used to be crewed by reservists but to make tiny financial servings, the Royal Navy Revserve (RNR) has been run down and its pool of minehunting expertise gone.

The Hunt class are still excellent vessels but are around 20 years old. The Sandown class are also highly effective but are more modern and the recent sale of 3 vessels to Estonia is particularly indefensible.

Hunt Class HMS Cottesmore, HMS Dulverton & HMS Brecon after retirement from Northern Ireland patrol duties were not returned to minehunting duties or general patrol work but and decommissioned in 2005 - awaiting fate in Portsmouth. (Brecon is static training hulk at Plymouth.) HMS Bicester & HMS Berkeley - paid off 2000, sold to Greece 2001.

Sandown Class HMS Cromer paid off 2001 after just 9 years service - now a static training hulk Dartmouth. HMS Sandown paid off 2005 after 16 years service sold to Estonia. HMS Inverness paid off 2005 after 14 years service sold to Estonia. HMS Bridport paid off 2005 after 11 years service sold to Estonia.

3 x Type 23 Frigates

Frigates are the backbone of the fleet and already in short supply. In 2005 the RN was forced to give up 5 more escorts to make yet more savings (against the promise of the new carriers). 3 of these were modern Type 23 frigates that had served for an average of just 12 years. Chile jumped at the opportunity of such a bargain and acquired some excellent ships. The last of the 3 has recently sailed to Chile after being refitted in Portsmouth and was described as being in superb condition. Meanwhile the RN escort force shrinks further.

HMS Norfolk paid off 2005, sold to Chile after just 15 years service. HMS Marlborough paid off 2005, sold to Chile after just 14 years service. HMS Grafton paid off 2005, sold to Chile after just 9 years service.

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