Obsolete ships

SIR – Admiral Lord West (Letters, October 30) is exaggerating in his claim that the Royal Navy’s Albionclass amphibious assault ships have four times the ship-shore lift capability of the Bay-class. In any case, having four times as much of an unaffordable and obsolescent capability is hardly justification for retaining these ships.

Under Lord West’s tenure as head of the Navy, there was a move away from traditional landing ships capable of being driven on to beaches in favour of the Bay-class, dock-based landing ships. If he now thinks these ships are lemons, he has only himself to blame.

Britain has only twice had to use its dock landing ships for major landings, both times in the Falklands. Damage to ships and loss of life were the result.

Lord West says the Albion-class ships have first-rate command-and-control and communications facilities, but they are packed with obsolete equipment. He also draws too much assurance from the air cover provided by new carriers. In Libya, in 2011, the allies had total air supremacy, with aircraft carriers “in theatre” and shore-based support; yet this still did not stop HMS Liverpool coming under fire. Traditional beach landings place expensive modern ships close inshore, where they are vulnerable.

The argument boils down to what represents the best use of the defence budget. Britain spends as much on defence (in real terms) as it has done at any time since 1950. The problem is how the Ministry of Defence spends it. In this regard, the decision to pay-off Albion and Bulwark is one of spending priorities, not a “savings exercise” of the type referred to by Lord West. Dr Mark Campbell-roddis

Dunblane, Perthshire