RFA crew shortage as well as a Rear Admiral shortage....

[FD2]

A Navy spokesperson said: “These roles are not new. For the Navy to be effective, we must be able to recruit and retain the best people from the broadest cross-section of society, so the small number of colleagues who conduct these responsibilities use their practical experience to help improve training and working culture.”

Except, they aren't.

The "current training and working culture" is what has crashed recruiting in the first place!!
This isn't the solution, it's the problem.

This is the Government equivalent of Go Woke, Go Broke.

Agree 100% - in their pointless pursuit of people from the 'broadest cross-section of society' they have lost the most important point, which is just to concentrate on the best recruits they can find and they will probably be from the traditional section of society for recruitment.

[Boac]

I have just discovered that HMS Chiddingfold appears to have a strong desire to 'cosy up' to its litter mates.................. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... hrain.html

Repair bill for the recent collision estimated at £25 million.

We await release of the new hit musical 'Chiddi Chiddi Bang Bang'

[FD2]

Yes - piss poor handling by the captain. I expect he would have gone off to 'backward' ship handling lessons until he could bring his ship alongside without pranging it. I can't imagine the jetty or HMS Penzance was in darkness, even though it was 'dark', i.e. night. Either that or he was relieved of his command.

The second, latest prang is more interesting but possibly deserving of serious punishment - if the speculation is correct. The USN had a number of silly events a few years back which they seemed to get to grips with successfully. https://news.usni.org/2017/08/21/chain- ... -questions

Operating with carriers poses its own particular risks as the USS Belknap found out when the USS John F. Kennedy's angled deck removed most of her superstructure one night and set the remains on fire.

HMAS Melbourne had some sad collisions with her escorts, one in 1964 when she cut HMAS Voyager in two and another in 1969 when she cut the USS Evans in two.

Kennedy v Belknap.png (263.39 KiB) Viewed 937 times

The RN collisions are a bit like people being attacked by dogs - once the press' attention is caught then dogs are attacking people everywhere for weeks on end, until a new favourite horror event occurs. Maybe the UK Government will finally spend some money on new equipment if they can ever make the right procurement decisions, but I suspect there's just no money left in the kitty.

[FD2]

HMS Diversity.png (150.85 KiB) Viewed 905 times

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Are you caring, sensitive, and need warnings about uncomfortable things?
We'd like to you to kill people!

There would seem to be a basic incompatibility here. What am I missing?

[FD2]

OMG!! The Kraken wakes, but will both squadrons of F35s be embarked to make it less than a joke?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... iran-army/


Navy set to deploy aircraft carrier to the Red Sea

Britain ready to send either HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Prince of Wales into the Gulf amid Houthi attacks on shipping
Tony Diver, US Editor and Danielle Sheridan, Defence Editor 30 January 2024 • 8:59pm

Britain is poised to send an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea to counter drone and missile attacks from Houthi rebels.

The Royal Navy is preparing to step in to replace USS Dwight D Eisenhower when it returns to America, as the Houthis warned of a “long-term confrontation” in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said on Tuesday that the UK may “co-operate with the Americans” and step in to “plug a gap” in the Red Sea.

The UK has two aircraft carriers designed to carry F-35 fighter jets. One is HMS Prince of Wales, which would face its first combat operation if it were deployed. The other is HMS Queen Elizabeth, which has been sent into combat once before.

On Tuesday, Mohamed al-Atifi, the commander of the Iran-backed Houthi forces, said the group was prepared for a long conflict over the Red Sea, where it has launched dozens of drone and missile attacks against commercial and naval ships since November.

Counting the days...

[FD2]

BTW - Have I missed something? When was HMS QE 'sent into combat'? Has a campaign medal been issued?

[PHXPhlyer]

Will large seagoing tugs be part of the entourage?

PP

[Boac]

BTW - Have I missed something? When was HMS QE 'sent into combat'? Has a campaign medal been issued?

A good question. There appears to be a 'different' story about the QE in May 2023 over Iraq. One claim is that she launched F35s on a 'combat' sortie while the other story is that the F35s actually flew the sortie from Akrotiri.

I guess the truth is out there somewhere.

[CharlieOneSix]

A Royal Marine will be responsible for commanding and orchestrating the Royal Navy’s global operations for the first time in history. Vastly-experienced officer Brigadier Rich Cantrill will be named Commander Operations (COMOPS), the senior naval officer responsible for overseeing protection of home waters and Royal Navy and Royal Marine actions and activities worldwide. Traditionally the role has been held by a submarine warfare officer*, but Brig Cantrill’s appointment reflects the evolving nature of the Royal Navy’s operations, with emphasis placed on breadth as well as depth of experience. Brig Cantrill will assume the role as a Major General.

*...and as we all know, there isn't a suitable Rear Admiral to take the job of Director Submarines so presumably there isn't a spare senior Submarine Officer to do this job either. What a state we've got into - Maggie would have been furious!

[Woody]

OMG!! The Kraken wakes, but will both squadrons of F35s be embarked to make it less than a joke?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... iran-army/


Navy set to deploy aircraft carrier to the Red Sea

Britain ready to send either HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Prince of Wales into the Gulf amid Houthi attacks on shipping
Tony Diver, US Editor and Danielle Sheridan, Defence Editor 30 January 2024 • 8:59pm

Britain is poised to send an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea to counter drone and missile attacks from Houthi rebels.

The Royal Navy is preparing to step in to replace USS Dwight D Eisenhower when it returns to America, as the Houthis warned of a “long-term confrontation” in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said on Tuesday that the UK may “co-operate with the Americans” and step in to “plug a gap” in the Red Sea.

The UK has two aircraft carriers designed to carry F-35 fighter jets. One is HMS Prince of Wales, which would face its first combat operation if it were deployed. The other is HMS Queen Elizabeth, which has been sent into combat once before.

On Tuesday, Mohamed al-Atifi, the commander of the Iran-backed Houthi forces, said the group was prepared for a long conflict over the Red Sea, where it has launched dozens of drone and missile attacks against commercial and naval ships since November.

Counting the days...

Have they brought back press gangs to recruit staff

[FD2]

Maybe they can cobble together one ship's company out of the two languishing in Portsmouth. Likewise two squadrons to embark with her but I have my doubts - more likely they are grovelling to get the USMC aircraft onboard again. The Merlin ASW squadrons may be of some use as well as the Merlin Jungly squadrons - might actually look as though they mean business...

[Boac]

Someone has taken FD2's advice.

"Routine pre-sailing checks yesterday identified an issue with a coupling on @HMSQNLZ
starboard propeller shaft. As such, the ship will not sail on Sunday.

@HMSPWLS will take her place on NATO duties and will set sail for Exercise Steadfast Defender as soon as possible."

Certainly helps to solve the personpower crisis in the RN.

It is reported that HMS PoW is 'in repairs' in Pompey so that should be interesting. Guess they might be dusting off the Rosyth charts again? Dear me - they had only just decided to try to launch the PoW to the Middle East too.

Spare a thought or two for the poor Tiffy pilots off on another 8 hour Yemen raid, piddle packs at the ready. Don't know why we don't just use our long range bomber fleet.................

[FD2]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... s-fix.html

Now we wait to see how long it takes to change over personnel, armaments and fuel PoW up. I guess the RFA issue has been solved by buying all the support materiel from the Yanks when on station. Diamond is designed as a defensive ship and seems to be standing up to her role at the moment - it took a lot of money to change the engines and generators which were fitted by the builders originally for cold water operations in the Atlantic they assumed as per the MOD spec. There appears to be a nice gym for her crew where the surface to surface missiles should have been fitted, but weren't due to the expense. I'm not sure if Richmond (on her way) or Lancaster have surface to surface missiles either - that was supposed to be the SSNs' job but they also seem to be resting in Faslane due to crewing problems.

Bit of a shambles really.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Four more soldiers to be tried more than 50 years after the alleged shootings took place in Northern Ireland...and the UK Government wonders why it's got a recruiting problem.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... t-murders/

[llondel]

Four more soldiers to be tried more than 50 years after the alleged shootings took place in Northern Ireland...and the UK Government wonders why it's got a recruiting problem.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... t-murders/

If they gave the IRA an amnesty for what happened back then, they should have said it applies to both sides.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Number of serviceable UK aircraft carriers is back to zero.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... n-reasons/

On the plus side: Number of 4 billion pound White Elephants is back up to 2!

[FD2]

From hope to despair. If this one is also due to a dereliction of duty then it's about time for a head or two to roll.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Duty is heavier than an aircraft carrier, death lighter than a feather.

[FD2]

Meanwhile the MOD is keen to get to grips with important matters It seems that until we sort out these things we cannot run our armed forces or produce new equipment satisfactorily.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... der-lgbtq/


Ministry of Defence has 93 diversity networks including 10 for gender issues

The staff forums for civil servants and those serving in the Armed Forces also include seven for LGBT issues and 14 for race


The Ministry of Defence has 93 different diversity networks for personnel to discuss race, gender and mental health, The Telegraph can reveal.

The staff networks, which are groups for civil servants and those serving in the Armed Forces to discuss issues around diversity, include seven for LGBT issues, 14 for race issues and 10 for gender issues.

The groups issue diversity guidance, display posters and celebrate diversity related events across the forces.

In comparison, the Home Office has 19 formal staff networks and the Ministry of Justice has 18, while the MoD has 20 focused on disability issues alone including the Defence Neuro Inclusivity Network, Defence Stammering Network and the Defence Epilepsy Network.

Last month John Glen, the Cabinet Office minister, ordered a review into Civil Service diversity networks as a part of a drive to maintain its impartiality.

He said confusion existed around how the networks operate. “That’s why we want to issue new guidance to inform and clarify how they work,” he said.

The Sunday Telegraph has revealed that the Army wants to relax security checks for recruits from overseas to boost diversity.

The Royal Navy’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression Network for LGBT sailors has produced posters, seen by The Telegraph, which have been placed on Royal Navy noticeboards.

One such poster defines the 51 “most commonly used” terms around LGBT issues, including “LGBPTTQQIIAA+”, defined as “any combination of letters attempting to represent all the identities of the queer community, this near-exhaustive one (but not exhaustive) represents Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Pansexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Intergender, Asexual, Ally.”

A poster from the Royal Navy Inclusion Allies network asks sailors “Are you an ally?” in relation to minority groups.

The RAF’s Gender Network wrote an MoD blog post celebrating International Pronouns Day in October 2023 entitled “What are Personal Pronouns and why do they matter?”

The network wrote “it can be offensive or harassing to guess at someone’s pronouns” and pointed to examples of “neopronouns” including “xe/xir/xirs, ze/zir/zirs and fae/faer/faers”; the RAF network defines these as “pronouns that were directly created or adapted within the language instead of evolving with it”.

The Ministry of Defence was approached for comment.