As the smoke is starting to clear around some of the decisions announced in the SDSR, the latest announcements on the Royal Navy have clarified a number of decisions.
HMS Illustrious will be withdrawn from service in 2014, once Ocean has emerged from a planned refit and been returned to a fully operational state. This will ensure that the UK retains the ability to deliver an amphibious intervention force from the sea and maintain an experienced crew to support the later introduction into service of the new Queen Elizabeth Class carrier. With no Harrier, the additional capabilities offered by HMS Ocean in the amphibious role (accommodation, landing craft, ramp etc) and the lower running costs of HMS Ocean (diesel v gas turbine, much smaller crew etc) this is a logical choice although the issue of retaining skills for the QE class does seem at odds with withdrawing the only carrier we have. Ocean is not a carrier. HMS Ark Royal will be finally withdrawn from service at the end of this year.
Four frigates are also to be withdrawn from service. These are the remaining Type 22s: HMS Chatham, Campbeltown, Cumberland and Cornwall. Again, the Type 22′s are relatively expensive to run and the oldest. Chatham will be withdrawn from service at the end of January 2011 and Campbeltown and Cumberland will follow on 1 April. HMS Cornwall will be withdrawn at the end of April once she has returned from her current operational deployment to the Indian Ocean, that will be a nice homecoming, well done lads.
One of the two Landing Platform Dock ships will in future be placed at extended readiness while the other is held at high readiness for operations. From November 2011, the high-readiness ship will be HMS Bulwark, and on current plans this will change to HMS Albion in late 2016 when Bulwark enters a refit period.
The Auxiliary Oiler RFA Bayleaf and the Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment vessel RFA Fort George will be withdrawn from April 2011.
Additionally the Bay Class amphibious support ship RFA Largs Bay will be withdrawn from service in April 2011.
Largs Bay is the oldest of the 4 Bay Class.
Of all these decisions I think losing the RFA vessels, especially Largs Bay, is the most baffling of all. They are superbly versatile and have very low running costs but in the context of reducing amphibious capabilities I suppose there is less of a justification for an amphibious support capability.
There isn’t really much to say about this that hasn’t already been said.
Except, decision on basing, location of the £100m refit work for Ocean and what is happening to the crews of the withdrawn vessels remain to be determined.
“Of all these decisions I think losing the RFA vessels, especially Largs Bay, is the most baffling of all.”
Very much agreed.
Good that Illustrious is staying until 2014. Regarding QE Class, how many boys will be detached to the Americans? Seems only logical way to prepar, with only Ocean in latter half of the decade.
Hi TD,
RE ” the issue of retaining skills for the QE class” and
” what is happening to the crews of the withdrawn vessels”
I picked up this thing when the SDSR was red hot and the communication channels on the inside of the Services and to the outside had (in the great haste) been poorly defined:
HMS Ocean, the helicopter carrier
- NEEDS A £100m REFIT [HAVING JUST COME OUT OF A £30M REFIT]
- the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious[ HAS ONLY JUST COME OUT OF A REFIT] will be brought back as a helicopter carrier.
2014 – Crew of Illustrious transfer to new super carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for sea trials and Illustrious will be decommissioned. HMS Ocean will be brought back into service.
This good plan may have gone down the drain with the changes & delays to the new carriers?
Could Ocean launch Harriers in an emergency?
I remember one landed and took off from a cargo ship after getting lost in the Falklands.
Obviously, probably with a limited war load, but just a thought.
As I’ve said before, Its just an utter cluster ****.
We dont really maintain the ability to mount an intervention, because said intervention would be without airpower, and given the weight of the new light tanks, the loss of a Bay goes from bay to crippling.
Utter madness.
Dominicj you can forget about the harriers being about for much longer they are already being tarted up for sale ,who to dont know but it was mentioned in an interview on BBC news channel that they were going straight to prepare for sale , might be the yanks ,or india dont think spain or italy have got any money
I knew the T22s were on their way out. But I have to agree the RFA decisions are stupid. These are our force multipliers at at time when we need to optimise all the escorts we have.
I did note in PMQs that the Merlin to FAA transfer was mentions. So there has been some good news. Well if they don’t all get worn out flying around Afghanistan that is.
RFA’s, certainly the Bay class, are indeed ideal force multipliers. I would have thought that with their low running costs and proven track record, reducing their numbers should be the last thing to do if we are bent on grossly reducing our overall Naval capability.
One minor but sad detail amongst the carnage – BAE’s 155mm TMF has been cancelled (you will recall that this was the very sensible-sounding project to fit surplus army 155mm barrels into existing 4.5 inch Mk 8 mountings).
This not only kills off the prospect of 155mm naval guns, it will probably also kill off BAE’s naval gun operation. Future RN warships are likely to be armed with 5 inch/127mm guns bought from United Defense (a US company owned by BAE) or OTO Melara.
Tony – how is that sad exactly ?
Jed – I thought that the 155mm TMF was an excellent idea, since it would have greatly boosted NGS firepower while reusing existing equipment (the development funding was minimal) and piggybacking on army artillery ammunition developments and acquisition, saving lots of dosh in the long run.
It seems somehow symbolic that the UK will no longer make any naval guns at all, of any calibre.