As you can see , our wee sniffling rodents are all over the story of the crew that had to be recruited for the new ferries before delays set in. THREE POINT FNNNN MILLION!
They were less interested in these far greater tales of wasted BILLIONS.
First, in 2018, from the Mail:
The £6 billion Royal Navy fleet that hardly ever went to sea: Warships that can’t sail in the heat spent 80 per cent of the year in dock
The British Royal Navy’s six Type 45 £1 billion destroyers barely ever leave their docks
HMS Dauntless and HMS Defender, spent no time at sea during 2017 despite it being ‘year of the navy’
The Type 45 destroyers all have engines fitted in 2008 that cut out in warm seas
In December Britain didn’t have a single ship on overseas operations anywhere
Now, that £6 billion does not include the cost of the crew sitting around on these ships.
How much might the total cost be?
The Ministry of Defence have confirmed that it costs around £126,000 per day to operate a Type 45 Destroyer. The information came to light after a written question was submitted in Parliament. https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/how-much-does-it-cost-to-operate-a-type-45-destroyer/
£46 million per year. £276 million for the six idle destroyers, launched from 2006 on and not able to operate in the warm waters of the Middle East until 2021. In some cases, 10 to 15 years after launch before operational. Kind of puts the ferry costs into perspective.
Only 3 are currently on active service.
Then there was this from the Mirror in February 2024:
Royal Navy’s £3billion aircraft carrier fails to leave harbour to join NATO exercise
A Royal Navy aircraft carrier was unable to set sail for a NATO exercise just a week after its sister ship also had to cancel.
The flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth was expected to lead the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War, but an “issue” with the starboard propeller coupling halted its departure last week.
So, if an 8 000 tonnes destroyer costs £46 million a year, a 65 000 tonnes aircraft carrier? £200 million per year. Two of them doing nothing for years, £400 million times 7? They were launched around 2017.
I could go on.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
This is bollocks. Training costs definitely, but crews aren’t sitting at home waiting for the ships to be built they’re being used elsewhere.
Golfnut
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are there enough seaworthy ships for them to be deployed on?
Thought not.
LikeLike
Thought? Maybe not.
RN mothballing ships because of crew shortages but Calmac has 4 full crews sitting at home being paid to twiddle their thumbs, I’m gobsmacked by your stupidity.
Golfnut.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t forget the Ajax Tanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
Which if they are ever deployed on the field of battle will be sitting ducks for drones to destroy them.
LikeLike
Britain, an island, surrounded by warming seas – record sea temperature rises in Atlantic & N Sea – but with RN ships that cannot sail in warm waters.
Even the “Navy Lark” would have dismissed that as a plot line for being too outlandish but here we are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
England is a loser , really , if England was one person you would call them a loser just simply because they are a basket case making idiotic decisions followed up by more idiotic decisions and the thing is theyve been doing it a long long time supported by their voters who keep voting in the same old nutters over and over again.The sooner Scottish people get the message and vote to part ways with the English the better.All those Scottish people who support the disaster that is England yes you can and should leave Scotland and go live there.The thing is most of them bever have lived there , i have , many years , they are in for a shock ,
LikeLike
What about the cost of “still defending” 3000 people in The Falklands?
Roughly £50000 per person!!!
What UK military forces are based at the Falkland Islands?
The Falkland Islands, a UK overseas territory, maintains one of a small remaining handful of UK overseas military deployments, accommodating air, land, and sea capabilities.
Richard ThomasMarch 29, 2024
Following the agreement between Denmark and Argentina for the possible sale of a squadron of F-16 fighters to Buenos Aires, renewed attention has been placed on the UK’s ability to defend the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, and whether the balance of power is shifting.
Following the 1982 Falklands War between the UK and Argentina, the UK moved to reinforce its ability to defend the Falkland Islands through the creation of a tri-service defence capability. Central to this is RAF Mount Pleasant, an airbase constructed south of the capital city of Stanley on East Falkland.
British Army and Royal Navy assets are also assigned to the territory, with units rotating in and out as required. There are around 1,500 UK military personnel stationed on the Falkland Islands at any one time.
The UK also holds sovereignty over South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, located some 1,500km further east of the Falkland Islands.
Denmark’s plan to sell 24 of its 43 F-16A/B fighters will provide Argentina with capable fourth generation fighter aircraft, able to conduct a wide range of missions. The deal is also being supported by the United States, with the US State Department publicly stating its “steadfast support” of Argentina’s Air Force modernisation efforts last year.
In January 2024, James Heappey, then UK Minister of State for the Armed Forces, stated in a written UK parliamentary response that he was “satisfied” that the military presence in the South Atlantic was “at the appropriate level to ensure the defence of the islands”.
The main land elements of the UK’s presence on the Falkland Islands are mainly made up of the British Army’s Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery (RA), with the latter unit operating the Sky Sabre ground-based air defence (GBAD) system.
The Sky Sabre system, operated by 16th Regiment RA, comprises the long-range AMB 3D surveillance radar and the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM), which is able to offer medium-range missile and aircraft interdiction at up to 25km, increasing to 45km through the use of the CAMM-Extended Range variant under development.
The Sky Sabre GBAD is also Link 16 capable; a Nato-standard tactical datalink that allows the system to converse with Royal Navy vessels and RAF assets in theatre.
Other land assets include a rotational infantry company, typically of around 100-150 soldiers, augmented by signals, communications, logistics and other elements.Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force maintains the most significant contingent of personnel at the Falkland Islands, with RAF Mount Pleasant is main operating base. A single flight of four Tranche 1 Typhoon fightersis based at RAF Mount Pleasant, tasked with air combat patrol of the islands and the surrounding areas.
The Tranche 1 fighters are the oldest versions of the Typhoon, of which 30 remain in service with the RAF, which also operates 107 of the more advanced Tranche 2 FGR4 variants. The Tranche 1 has no ground attack capability, and more limited sensors.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence 26 of the remaining 30 Tranche 1 Typhoons will be retired from service in the end of Q1 2025, indicating a flight of four aircraft will be retained. This could mean the Falkland Islands flight will be retained after that date.
As well as the air combat flight, the RAF operates one transport aircraft (typically an A400M Atlas) and one A330 MRTT air-to-air refuelling aircraft, at Mount Pleasant.Royal Navy
The Royal Navy maintains a standing patrol frigate to the South Atlantic, while the day-to-day maritime patrol of the islands territorial waters and EEZ is conducted by an assigned Falkland Islands patrol vessel, in this case being the Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) HMS Forth, which replaced its Batch 1 predecessor HMS Clyde in 2020.
The Batch 2 River-class OPVs are a new variant of the order Batch 1, being 10m longer (at 90m) compared to the older design, which are 79m in length. The Batch 2s displace around 300 tonnes more than the Batch 1s, at approximately 2,000 tonnes depending on the load.
In addition, the Batch 2 OPVs have a rotary-capable flight deck, enabling small rotorcraft such as the Royal Navy’s Wildcat helicopter to ‘lillypad’ from the vessels. All the Batch 2 River-class OPVs are forward based around the world, with Forth being the vessel committed to the Falkland Islands.
The armament is minimal with a Bushmaster 30mm main gun in addition to a number of .50 calibre machine guns and other small arms. Sensors include a Terma Scanter 4100 2D radar and Kelvin Hughes navigation radar.
HMS Forth is able to use the small dock on East Falklands for local duties, with any maintenance and repairs carried out shipyards in South Africa. In March it was announced that Northern Ireland shipyard Harland & Wolff had been chosen as the preferred bidder by the Falkland Islands Government to build new port facilities in a project that could be worth up to £150m
JB
LikeLike
A story so ridiculous even BBC Scotland didn’t post an article about it – The usual muppets were always going to swallow it whole, as the response to Golfnut’s accurate description of “bollocks” amply demonstrated…
Hiring personnel as others retire/move-on is normal for any large organisation, hiring on specialists for shakedown trials and training on such complex vessels would equally have been an anticipated and budgeted cost only the exceedingly dim would try to make a contrived story about… Enter Willie Rennie…
LikeLike