Just one ship on show at Royal Navy’s biggest festival

Global operations from thwarting drugs traders to supporting Nato have left the fleet with little to spare

THE ROYAL NAVY is so overstretched that it will be represented by just one ship at what has traditionally been its biggest festival of the year.

“Operational pressures” mean the crowds at this weekend’s Bournemouth Air Festival will see only RFA Argus, a casualty ship belonging to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

The lone appearance is in contrast to last year’s festival, when the Navy sent a frigate, a patrol ship and a mine hunter.

But this month the largest of those, the Type 23 HMS Monmouth, was busy disrupting drug smugglers in the Indian Ocean. A programme of operations or refits has left the fleet with virtually no vessels to spare.

The late-summer festival is the Navy’s biggest single civilian engagement and is considered to be a valuable recruitment opportunity.

“Due to operational and in-year resource pressures, we have a slight change in the number of ships appearing in the bay,” said Commodore Jamie Miller, who is overseeing the festival.

The Navy is still basking in the glory of the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth this month, the first of its new state-ofthe-art aircraft carriers and the largest vessel ever built for the service.

Overall, however, the Navy’s operational capacity has been described by MPS as “woefully low”, with the number of frigates and destroyers in particular “way below” the number needed to adequately respond to future threats.

A range of obligations including thwarting the drugs trade, securing the Falklands and showing solidarity with Nato allies in the face of Russian aggression, has left the fleet stretched.

Over the past five months a force led by HMS Monmouth has seized roughly £400 million worth of illegal drugs in the Gulf and Indian Ocean from eight separate raids.

Meanwhile HMS Ocean, a helicopter carrier and the Navy’s current flagship, is leading a Nato maritime group securing trade routes in the Mediterranean.

HMS Duncan, one of six new Type 45 destroyers, is leading a Nato task force in the Black Sea, and other vessels are currently deployed in the Caribbean, South Atlantic and in waters around Britain.

“Fortunately the largest and highest-profile vessel, the RFA Argus, is still coming to represent the Royal Navy and will play host to a number of cadet and youth acquaints, as well as form the backdrop to the Royal Marines beach demonstration and act as a landing platform for the Merlin helicopter,” said Commodore Miller.

“As is the Royal Marines motto, we have had to adapt and overcome this change. We are, however, delighted to be supporting the air festival with other displays and events.”