I recently posted about armadas, and reviewed One Hundred Days in Readers Club. I am four chapters into Senlac by Julian De La Motte. I am really starting to get drawn into it now. Initially the mix of Saxon, Norman, and Viking names make it a struggle to know who’s who, but that’s how it was. I’m through that barrier, and thoroughly enjoying it. I shall post a review when I’ve finished it, but for now it reminds me of another armada, William the Conqueror’s.
Great Britain is an island. Since the reign of Alfred the Great, and beforehand, England has understood the necessity of a navy for its defence and the projection of power. Certainly RAF’s Fighter Command won the Battle of Britain, but the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy kept us fed during the battle of the Atlantic. Our strategic nuclear deterrent is submarine based.
When I joined the Royal Naval Reserve we were given the threat lecture. It was during Michail Gorbachev’s term as leader of the Soviet Union. The lecture began with a slideshow of the vessels in the Soviet navy and a description of their capabilities. It ended with a “that was the lecture we used to give” and “we don’t really know what the threat is now, but we need to be prepared for whatever will emerge”.
Sadly something has emerged. The days of hope that Michail Gorbachev brought the world seem to have evaporated. So how well are we equipping our Royal Navy now? It is some years since I realised with horror that we had more admirals than ships. Well last year’s report by the Public Accounts Committee on the Defence Equipment Plan 2020 – 2030 says this: “The Department remains stuck in a cycle of focusing on short-term financial pressures. For example, it has sought to balance its annual budget by again deferring or descoping the development of capabilities.” That’s not very reassuring. The size of the fleet has fallen dramatically since 1945. Although I have no doubt about the capability of our modern ships and their crews, I worry about their numbers. When I was in the RNR there was a threshold of fifty ships that it was felt was the absolute minimum. We soon fell below that. I just read that we have over seventy ships now. However when I look at the detail, a great number of those are small patrol vessels. Is it smoke and mirrors?