The row over Britain’s military capability has deepened after the Defence Secretary John Healey admitted he was “not happy” with the Royal Navy’s size and incorrectly stated how many warships it has.
Healey was accused of a “shambles” by the Conservatives after he claimed Britain has 17 frigates and destroyers in total at its disposal, when the actual number is 13.
It came after The i Paper reported that the UK is being forced to use a German vessel to lead a Nato mission next month because it does not have any warships available.
A Royal Navy commadore and battle team will lead a Nato taskforce in the Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea from a German frigate in April, after the Ministry of Defence was forced to send the Type 45 destroyer, HMS Dragon, to Cyprus in response to the Iran war.
On Thursday morning, Healey was grilled by LBC in relation The i Paper’s story. The Defence Secretary said that the Germans were acting as “good allies” by stepping in to supply their warship.
However, he added: “I’m not happy with the situation we have with British warships, and that’s because it takes six years to build a warship.”
When asked how many frigates the UK has, Healey took a long pause before stating that there are 17 frigates and destroyers in total.
In fact, the Royal Navy has 13 of the vessels – six destroyers and seven frigates – with the number soon to drop to 12, when the frigate HMS Richmond is decommissioned later this year.
James Cartlidge, the Tory shadow defence secretary, accused Healey of a “farce” and a “car crash interview”.
He said: “At a time of war in Europe and the Middle East, it is truly extraordinary that the Secretary of State for Defence doesn’t seem to know how many ships the Royal Navy has.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the error “embarrassing” and said Healey “belittles our nation on the world stage”.
Labour MP and former RAF officer Calvin Bailey, said the Iran conflict had exposed the depletion of naval assets over 14 years of Conservative governments.
He said: “What has happened shows just how tight the choices are and that the initial plan not to commit Dragon was the right one. The risks taken by the Conservative government have come home to roost.
Defence Secretary John Healey is facing criticism after being unable to name the number of warships Britain has (Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville)“Our nation’s security is in a precarious position. We have to stop fixating on the hollowed-out nature of our military as a matter of momentary embarrassment. It’s so much worse than that.”
Labour peer and former head of the Royal Navy Lord West, said he had some sympathy for Healey, despite the error. He told The i Paper: “I think he’s a very good Defence Secretary who’s working hard. I think he was tired, and it’s easy to get ship numbers confused when you’re tired.”
The questions over Britain’s naval strength came on the day that the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that the UK was ready to seize vessels in Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” carrying illicit oil through British waters.
Lord West added that recent strains on the Royal Navy would not affect the UK’s ability to seize shadow fleet vessels.
He said: “We’ve had a set up for years called the maritime counter-terrorist set-up which was designed to takeover a ship which might have a nuclear bomb on or weapons of mass destruction heading for the UK. We have helicopters that are all trained and ready to go, some carrying troops, some just can do an attack if necessary.
“We can do it, but let’s get ahead and bloody do it… I will be impressed when we start doing it, but we need to get cracking.”
At a meeting in Helsinki of leaders in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) – a UK-led force involving the Nordic and Baltic nations and the Netherlands – Starmer observed as Finnish border guards abseiled from a helicopter onto a ship in a demonstration of how shadow fleet interceptions could work.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Thursday that each potential shadow fleet ship in British waters “will be individually considered by law enforcement, military and energy market specialists before a recommendation is made to ministers and any operation is executed”.
Operations could see helicopters based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset landing Special Boat Service personnel or other commandoes directly onto the decks of ships.
Such boarding operations are ideally supported by a frigate or destroyer, but because of the limited availability of these vessels it is likely that smaller offshore patrol vessels would be used instead.
John Foreman, a retired Royal Navy officer who served as the UK’s defence attache in Moscow until 2022, told The i Paper that the UK had been “shoved” into taking a more assertive position on the shadow fleet by US, French and Belgium boarding operations involving the vessels.
He said he had “no doubt” that the Royal Navy had “the men and the equipment to get the job done”, but said that the action was “too late” because Russia was already enjoying a bonanza from the spike in oil prices caused by the Iran war.
“Once again we get to the right policy position but years after the decision should have been taken,” he said.
Kevin Rowlands of the Royal United Services Institute, who spent 20 years at sea on the Royal Navy and was a captain, said: “The Royal Navy has always had the capability to interdict shadow fleet vessels. The stumbling block has been political and legal.
“If the government is now satisfied that it has the legal basis to board and seize ships flying flags of convenience and carrying sanctioned cargo that helps to fund Russia’s war against Ukraine, then the navy is up to the job.”
There are outstanding questions about what will happen to detained vessels and their crews, although the MOD has said that criminal proceedings may be brought the against the owners, operators and crew, for breaches of UK sanctions legislation.
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