Russia’s oil tankers get confiscated by Belgium and France and Russia can’t do anything about it. The fact we can’t police our own waters says more about us than anything else.
Off Topic Hull City Centre Public Realm Strategy
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She visited Hull last September, BBC Look North, and Radio H*mberside gave it extensive coverage, and they had an open day for the public to visit.
Abridged version, senile old git.
The views expressed in this post are 67% recycled.
I never saw any of that mate, it certainly wasn't in the Dull Daily.She visited Hull last September, BBC Look North, and Radio H*mberside gave it extensive coverage, and they had an open day for the public to visit.
Abridged version, senile old git.
The views expressed in this post are 67% recycled.
The article I read mate made a point of mentioning we have only five frigates left.
Apparently it's five active frigates.
www.navylookout.com
Another warship quietly withdrawn – Royal Navy now down to just 5 frigates - Navy Lookout
HMS Iron Duke has been stripped of her weapons and sensors and has not been to sea since October 2025, despite no formal decommissioning announcement being made. Her withdrawal from active service, less than three years after a £103M refit, raises uncomfortable questions about the Royal Navy's...
www.navylookout.com
I wonder if that's modern ones ?
If you look at the list on Wikipedia there see s quite a few over 30 years old
4
As of early May 2026, the Royal Navy has only five operational Type 23 frigates following the withdrawal of HMS Iron Duke, a significant reduction in active surface combatant numbers. While seven were previously listed, ongoing maintenance and decommissioning, including HMS Richmond, have brought the active, deployable total down to five, tightening the capability of the Royal Navy. [1, 2, 3]
Key Details on UK Frigate Fleet:
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As of early May 2026, the Royal Navy has only five operational Type 23 frigates following the withdrawal of HMS Iron Duke, a significant reduction in active surface combatant numbers. While seven were previously listed, ongoing maintenance and decommissioning, including HMS Richmond, have brought the active, deployable total down to five, tightening the capability of the Royal Navy. [1, 2, 3]
Key Details on UK Frigate Fleet:
- Active/Operational Count: 5 Type 23 frigates (as of May 2026).
- Reduced Capability: The low number of available ships limits the Royal Navy's ability to support the Carrier Strike Group and monitor threats simultaneously.
- Future Fleet: The Navy is in a transitional phase, preparing for the introduction of new Type 26 and Type 31 frigates to replace the ageing Type 23 class.
- Maintenance & Decommissioning: Several ships, such as HMS Kent and HMS Iron Duke, have been undergoing, or recently completed, maintenance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
HDM, yesterday's news next week, or not.I never saw any of that mate, it certainly wasn't in the Dull Daily.
The views expressed in this post are 67% recycled.
Crikey I've just Googled active ones and it does look weak .
Its why the british need to grovel to france for their navy
Since the late 1990s to 2020s, the general opinion amongst uk political leaders was that the field of war had changed and the UK wouldn't be going to war alone anymore against countries that had functioning navies, so reduced relative spending on the navy. It's been accepted that the UK would always be a support role to the US, regarding the navy and land troops. Politics has shifted a little the last year or so... Treading carefully here to not get deleted or start an argument.
The Russian oil tankers you mention were captured by troops in helicopters, not attacked by frigates. It wouldn't be wise to fire on and sink a ship carrying millions of barrels of oil in your own territorial waters off your coastline...
I know. My point was that Britain can’t project power to prevent hostile nations moving their ships through our waters unhindered.
Didn't want to mention it in the RIP thread but on there is the memorial to those who lost their lives on HMS Sheffield. I wondered what the Chinese chap without a military Id number was doing on there.
Russia is sending cutter ships through the Arctic Sea, down the nordsjø, through the channel, round ireland and down to France, Spain and into the med, cutting communications cables. Clearly it's in France's interest also to help police this, as it affects them and all of Europe. Pre-2015, it was easier to politically negotiate with Russia, the conflict in the middle east had brought Putin in from the cold and it was assumed that good relations would continue. The upsurge in aggressive tactics was not widely expected and resources were directed towards a different type of war.
Clearly the best answer is a European army and navy that protects the geographical and digital entity, with some independence from the US, but there's been huge investment in fermenting ideas and political parties that are against this form of collaboration. It's how it is.
According to google:
Lai Chi Keung, a Chinese national, was aboard HMS Sheffield during the 1982 Falklands War working as a laundryman. He was part of a group of civilian laundrymen, often from Hong Kong, employed by the Royal Navy as volunteers on various ships.
There are really only two countries who could potentially affect the UK aggressively via a navy - Russia and China. Realistically, if it ever got to that, the UK would never have enough money or manpower to fully engage in this way.
A cost effective solution would be a European navy, where our politics and ethics are 'largely' aligned and have been for 80 years, where the geographical area of Europe could be patrolled and the cost burden spread more fairly. I think we are moving closer to this, thanks to the US president, but there's a reason why big foreign money has been pumped into nationalist causes the last 15 years.
I just think it's a shame to see our once great navy depleted so much.
Russia’s conventional forces are ****e, to be honest. They have nukes and utilise cyber warfare and espionage effectively but they’re a paper tiger when it comes to their ground forces, navy and air force. People have been hyping their military might for decades because they have a lot of tanks and conscripted cannon fodder but the Poles would genuinely give them a good hiding if they were daft enough to try.
And yet the Ukrainians with all the military expertise, weapons and money the West has given them are still locked in a near stalemate with them.