The prestigious Royal Navy is taking on water from all sides. Amid a serious recruitment crisis in the British Navy, The Telegraph revealed on Friday 12 January that the UK was unable to send aircraft carriers to the Red Sea due to a lack of sailors. The English fleet has already recently made a name for itself by publishing an announcement on LinkedIn... for the highly strategic position of "Director of Nuclear Submarines". It was a somewhat desperate move that shocked the kingdom.
Since October, the frigates HMS Lancaster and HMS Diamond have been in the Red Sea, alongside a US carrier strike group, to combat the Houthi threat, which targets merchant ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. On Thursday night, the United Kingdom and the United States also carried out joint strikes in Yemen. But British naval capabilities appear to be limited by human resources.
Read alsoIn the Red Sea, the United States and its allies make good on their threat
A carrier strike group without a tanker
Despite repeated calls to deploy HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of Britain's two aircraft carriers, to the area, the Royal Navy's flagship could not set sail. Because the carrier strike group that accompanies it is not operational. To put to sea, the aircraft carrier must be escorted by three destroyers, three frigates, a submarine and three supply ships. However, as The Telegraph points out, the RFA supply ship Fort Victoria is short of sailors and has been in dry dock for repairs since returning from its last mission in the Indo-Pacific in 2021. It is the only vessel capable of providing strong logistical support to the carrier strike group, embarking ammunition, equipment and food.
RFA Fort Victoria in 2001. Reuters Photographer / REUTERS
According to the newspaper, the Royal Navy has in recent months prioritized the maintenance of other auxiliary vessels, such as replenishment tankers or landing ships. "It's atrocious that the navy has left Fort Victoria abandoned," Alan West, former First Sea Lord, the commanding general of the Royal Navy, told our colleagues. "Knowing that it is one of a kind, it should have been a priority." Launched in 1990, the RFA Fort Victoria requires regular maintenance and servicing. In recent years, the ship has been plagued by age-related damage.
On Thursday night, four Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets were able to strike Yemen, supported by an aerial tanker. But since then, the United Kingdom has not carried out any more strikes, unlike the United States, which has continued its action. "If we had had an aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, we could have had 24 aircraft just 150 km from Yemen, ready to take off and attack again," Lord West said.
Read alsoYemen: Houthi rebels threaten the United States with retaliation
Severe recruitment crisis
Knowledgeable sources told The Telegraph that there were "other solutions to refuel the carrier", should it be sent to the region. "This could include working with other countries to secure supply," they said. But for a naval expert interviewed by our colleagues, this solution is only valid "for exercises". "If the carrier strike group goes on a real mission, it won't be able to rely on logistical support from its allies indefinitely."
Another solution discussed by the Telegraph's sources: "Some merchant seamen could be sent to Fort Victoria, so that the crew is complete." But "it would require some training time." The recruitment crisis was so deep within the British Navy that the Royal Navy had to retire two frigates, HMS Westminster and HMS Argyll, to make their crews join a new class of frigates.