Ruling The Waves

THE Royal Navy assault ship Albion, which is now visiting Palma, is a fine ship. She is also relatively new. But when she returns home later this month she is to be mothballed as part of the defence cuts. In other-words there is a possibility that she will never sail again under the white ensign.

Some of the biggest ships in the Royal Navy are being scrapped or mothballed as the Treasury attempts to save money, effectively leaving the Navy with just a handful of ships.

Cutting the Royal Navy so dramatically is a dangerous move and means that Britain no longer has enough ships to assemble a Falklands style task force. It is a risky move but obviously money is tight and cutting the defence budget has always been an easy option for British politicians. While the Royal Navy will soon no longer have an aircraft carrier and under 20 destroyers and frigates it does have a secret weapon, the skill and quality of its personnel. This was very evident aboard the visiting assault ship Albion.