by Silvio Canto, Jr.
Leave it to Charles Dickens to describe the state of the UK Navy: Dead as a door nail. That’s about it.
UK PM Starmer is going through difficult times. They call him an “utter disgrace” because some of his constituents aren’t happy with his response to the Iran War:
Keir Starmer was torn apart by a former advisor to NATO, who condemned his recent actions regarding the conflict in the Middle East. Gwythian Prins, also a former adviser to NATO, the UN, and British Chiefs of the Defence Staff, called out the prime minister for destroying the UK’s relationship with the US, going as far to describe his behaviour as ‘traitorous’ in a furious rant.
The criticism is fair and NATO may not survive. The state of the UK Navy is more permanent and nothing to cheer about. In other words, the once mighty UK Navy is now nothing but a small collection of ships, and there is nothing royal about it. Let’s check this out:
2026 has been a horrible year for Britain’s Royal Navy, whose strength has now — depending on how it is calculated — fallen to historic lows.
The issue has caused a serious political flare-up after it emerged that the navy could not send an advanced destroyer for the defense of Cyprus after a UK air base came under drone attack on March 2. HMS Dragon finally sailed on March 10, some days after an 11-ship French fleet headed for the Mediterranean. Commentators declared a national scandal.
Many say the Royal Navy has been found wanting. The new First Sea Lord, Royal Marine General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, has staked his reputation on regenerating a capability to meet its NATO commitments in the North Atlantic by 2029, but this has involved cutting back the navy’s capability for global operations, only to be exposed by a crisis in the Mediterranean and Gulf.
Right now, the Royal Navy fleet looks like a construction site. All of the major classes of warships and support ships, without exception, are in various states of retirement, repair, construction, training, or crew regeneration. Some relatively new ships are tied up alongside but uncrewed as they await sufficient trained manpower and funding to be used operationally. It’s thought that of the force of just 13 destroyers and frigates, only around four are at sea. It’s the same story with attack submarines, where only one of the five vessels is known to be operational.
Only 5 vessels are known to be operational? Is Argentina thinking about going after “Las Malvinas”? I mean The Falklands, or that island way down there that the UK fought for in 1982. Could they do that today? I don’t think so. Could PM Starmer count on President Trump, like PM Thatcher counted on President Reagan? I don’t think so. We had a different relationship back then because the UK was also a different country, i.e. it was more British, as I heard a visitor say!
So how does this happen? How does a naval power destroy itself like this? I don’t know for sure, but relying on the U.S. for your defense is my explanation for this sad state of affairs. You let defense budgets plummet, offer generous benefits, and stop projecting maritime power, and the UK Navy is suddenly a joke.