Speculation has been rife all year that Royal Navy's escort force is to be cut from a paper strength of 25 destroyers and frigates to just 20 - the four Cornwall-class Type 22 Batch 3 frigates plus one Type 23 frigate being seen as the likely victims. The RN had 35 frigates and destroyers when Labour took power in 1997, and it's hard to see how the government's interventionist foreign policy has reduced demands on the escort force.  By comparison the another island nation - Japan - feels the need to maintain a force of about 54 modern frigates and destroyers despite its pacifist constitution.

A quick 'surf' through some other elements of bad news in 2007:

• The Fleet Arm failed in its effort to re-establish 801 Naval Air Squadron due to a lack of qualified pilots, and instead in March 800 NAS was officially renamed the Naval Strike Wing, this supposedly comprises of elements of both 800 and 801 Squadrons - although equivalent in strength to just one 9 aircraft squadron
• The struggle to find Harrier's to occasionally embark on the the UK's Strike Carrier (HMS Illustrious) has became positively embarrassing, with the US Marine Corps, Spanish Navy and Italian all being persuaded to loan aircraft and help the RN to maintain basic fixed wing carrier operating skills.
• The reduction in the size of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary service continued, with RFA Brambleleaf and Oakleaf being unexpectedly being laid up in 2007, and RFA Fort Victoria going to extended readiness.  This reduction is presumably a reflection of the generally low level of exercises and deployments that the shrunken RN can currently afford to maintain.
• The first Type 45 - HMS Daring - will not now be in service until November 2010 - three year later than originally contracted, while the odds that two more units (i.e. the seventh and eighth of class) will ever be ordered for the Royal Navy have sink close to zero.   Also rumours that two of the six Type 45 destroyers (Defender and Duncan) could be sold to Saudi Arabia that first surfaced in the summer of 2005 remain worryingly persistent - even the implication that the MOD has authorised BAE Systems to offer these ships for sale is disturbing given the urgent need to replace the ancient and nearly obsolete Type 42's.  It also remains unclear whether the MOD would order replacements if they were sold, or whether the RN would end up with just four of the twelve Type 45 destroyers that it had expected to get as recently as 2004. 
• Despite reductions in capability, the estimated cost of the six Type 45's on order has increased to nearly £6.5 billion - i.e. about £1.1 billion or $2.2 billion each.  It's perhaps worth remembering that the American Arleigh Burke design was quickly ruled out in 1999 as an option to replace the Type 42's on the grounds that it was too large and expensive, with a then sticker price of about $1 billion (£600 million). 
• The resignation of Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support Lord Drayson in November on the implausible grounds that he wanted to go motor racing in America.  The reality seems that an argument with civil servants over the procurements of the Army's FRES was the final straw as he struggled to secure the funding needed to make the next version of his well respected Defence Industrial Strategy (issued December 2005) reality rather than just words.  It remains to be seen whether the RN will still get the "drum beat" he promised of a new major warship every year, and a submarine every 22 months.
• The decline of defence in political importance in the UK was graphically illustrated when the Secretary of State for Defence (traditionally of the three great offices of state, along with the Treasury and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) was made a part time job when Des Browne was also appointed Secretary of State for Scotland in June 2007.
• Despite the interesting proposals of the S2C2 pathfinder study, progress on the Future Surface Combatant remained snail like, currently amounting to just a few low value study contracts supervised by a team of just four dedicated staff in DE&S.  The last Type 23 frigate. HMS St Albans,  entered service in 2002 and the current average age of the RN's seventeen frigates is just over 13 - acceptable but increasing rapidly.  It now seems almost impossible that the four Type 22 Batch 3 will ever replaced, even if they remain in service until 2015-18 as is the current officially published plan.
• The £200 million a year in funding robbed from the Royal Navy's support budget in July 2004 until very recently has had a disastrous cumulative effect on equipment maintenance and serviceability.  During 2007 ships often either remained alongside or where deployed with major systems non-operational - the later being accepted on the basis that the system(s) in question were not vital for the envisaged tasking.  Of course no allowance is then being made for the unexpected, and one of the great virtues of sea power is its flexibility.  The NAO has warned that it It will take the service about three years to recover from the effects of this [desperate] financial measure.
• The fiasco of the sailors and marines from HMS Cornwall held by Iran in March and early April was a massive PR blow to the service.  It can only be hoped the RN has quietly corrected many of the issues that this unfortunate episode highlighted.

At this time of year it is appropriate to remember the servicemen and women of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines that have given their lives for their country in 2007, including:

Marine Thomas Curry RM;  Lance Corporal Mathew Ford RM; Scott Summers RM; Marine Jonathon Holland RM; Marine Benjamin Reddy RM; LOM Paul McCann RN; OM(WS) Anthony Huntrod RN; Lance Corporal Michael Jones RM.

My condolences to their families, sadly it is sometimes too easy to forget the human tragedy of warfare when safe at home in the UK and other fortunate parts of the world.

Finally, I apologise for the low level of maintenance this website has had during 2007, unfortunately the demands of work and a young family have made it difficult to find the necessary time.  I hope, but can't promise, to do better in  2008.