See at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/372738.asp

Is Britains Royal Navy out of fuel? Legendary fleet airs its laundry in tabloids  trawling for cash By Babak Behnam NBC NEWS PRODUCER LONDON, Feb. 21  The British Royal Navy was once called the envy of the world. But recently, at least according to tabloid headlines here, the legendary fleet is running out of fuel. Is this just another nail in the coffin of the British Empire or all simply part of a process called British politics? ACCORDING TO media reports, the financial crisis facing the once-proud Royal Navy is growing with such a vengeance that the fleet cannot cope with the demands of world leadership in military conflicts ranging from Kosovo to Iraq to East Timor. Some recent embarrassments include: While the British Defense Secretary was reassuring the members of Parliament that the fleet is able to operate normally, his own department announced that many planned exercises were canceled due to a lack of funds. The Royal Navy recently withdrew 14 destroyers, frigates and anti-mine vessels from a NATO exercise for lack of funds. Last month, the captains of ships that were at sea were commanded to steam at no more than 15 knots in order to conserve fuel. A lack of jobs due to shrinking budgets has put 20 commissioned officers, ranking as high as Air Commodore, on temporary leave. Due to the rising cost of fuel and the fact that the navy is heading towards overspending, hard decisions have to be taken, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson said. PLENTY TO PROTECT Ninety-four percent of Britains trade by weight and 77 percent by value travels by sea, making piracy a big concern of maritime transporters  and making high visibility (read: deterrence) on world waters a prime naval task. When Britain goes to war, which it has somewhat unofficially recently  at NATOs side during the campagin against Yugoslavia and alongside the United States and other allies against Iraq twice in the last decade  the Royal Navy has played a vital role. And so has naval transport. During the NATO war on Yugoslavia, three-fourths of front line vehicles and logistics arrived by sea. The 1991 Persian Gulf War saw 95 percent of its needs serviced by allied navies. A recent strategic defense review of the British armed forces called for a policy that relies heavily on a strong, well trained and efficient Royal Navy. Yet the Royal Navy during the three-year-old administration of Prime Minister Tony Blair has been pared and cut, as the Labor government seeks to stem U.S.-like 1980s defense spending. The navy has not found the nations faith in its ability matched by sensible money. GOVERNMENT CLAIMS EXPANSION Blairs government has not taken the navys budget-cutting criticism sitting down. We are investing heavily in a modern navy that can respond to modern challenges around the world, Secretary of Defense Geoff Hoon said earlier this month at a Royal Navy Club Founders Day Dinner. There is one question that needs to be asked here, Hoon continued. If war broke out today, would the navy be able to protect the British people? The answer, without doubt, is yes. But how is it then that the former Chief of Defense Staff and Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Hill-Norton, can be so down on the navys future? (It is a very bad and serious situation. These clowns in charge dont know, understand, or care about the service, he was quoted as saying recently.) A closer inspection of these claims reveals a spot of political manipulation. The article that quoted Lord Hill-Norton mentioned that 36 of the navys 44 principal warships have been confined to port due to fuel shortages, but failed say that the majority of those vessels were due in for maintenance work anyway. SHIFTING CASH And as the budget at the Ministry of Defense does not include additional monies for any increases in the cost of fuel, the ministry must adjust planned activities as a normal part of cash management to ensure the fleet stays within its allocated resources. It is all a part of British politics, Janes defense specialist Paul Beaver said. The detail is in the nuance. In Britain, there is no system like congressional hearings to air discussions on the allocation of funds. The Blair administration, by virtue of its majority in parliament, has no real opposition to its policy, and the heads of the armed services at times need to resort to headline grabbing soundbites to further their own agendas. But between the political lines, there is some truth to the Royal Navys budget woes. U.S. President Bill Clinton increased Pentagon funding in this years budget, while Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has cut defense spending every year the Labor government has been in power. So although the reality is not as dire as the headlines claim it to be, where once Britannia ruled the sea she is now falling on hard times. NBCs Babak Behnam is based in London. submitted by ...sdb

-- S. David Bays (SDBAYS@prodigy.net), February 21, 2000

Answers

I know this was in the news about a month ago but just noticed it posted on my Prodigy.net homepage at International News along with:

Kosovo peace march turns violent Decisive victory for Iran reform China tells Taiwan to talk or fight British Royal Navy runs out of fuel

Is this old news just now getting out or is the Royal Navy's problems getting worse?

sdb

-- S. David Bays (SDBAYS@prodigy.net), February 21, 2000.

From the Electronic Telegraph, a reputable, free-subscription newspaper:

ISSUE 1705 Tuesday 25 January 2000

Officers in armed forces are paid to stay at home By Tim Butcher, Defence Correspondent and Michael Paterson

SENIOR officers in the armed forces, including an air vice-marshal and two major generals, are on "gardening leave" at home because the Ministry of Defence cannot find them anything to do, the Government said last night.

As the services struggle with a 10,000 recruitment shortfall and a series of peacekeeping commitments, the ministry said 20 commissioned officers were being told not attend work. They include an air commodore, a brigadier, two group captains, two Royal Navy captains, and two Royal Navy commanders.

John Spellar, the Armed Forces Minister, admitted that the crisis within the armed forces medical services will take years to solve because of the long periods it takes to train doctors and other health specialists. There is an acute shortage of anaesthetists and other surgical specialists within military medicine.

The problems, described by the Defence Select Committee as "scandalous", were highlighted yesterday in a leaked letter from Admiral Sir John Brigstocke, a former Second Sea Lord. He said a cut of #1.5 million was forced on to the Surgeon General even though the Government had claimed repeatedly it was increasing spending on military medicine by #140 million over four years, from 1999 to 2002.

He added: "There are soldiers and sailors whose careers are being held back and in some cases being invalided out of the Navy because they cannot get treatment." When asked yesterday for details of the additional spending, a Ministry of Defence spokesman was unable to provide details of spending.

Robert Key, the Tory defence spokesman, said he had figures that showed 5,400 military personnel were currently off sick. Defence medical services have been in chaos since the Tories tried to reform them in the post-Cold War cuts of the early Nineties.

Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, yesterday dismissed claims that the armed forces were so starved of cash that the Royal Navy could not afford to buy enough fuel to power its fleet. The estimated #400 million cost of Britain's part in the Kosovo conflict will come out of Treasury reserves and not the defence budget, he told the Commons at Question Time.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 22, 2000.

It breaks my heart to note the rapid decline of British sea power over the years. I will be always be one of those stuffy sentimental types who believed that the world was a better, or at least safer place when the sun never set on the British Empire.

Regarding the current situation as detailed here, it is, of course, hard to know what information to believe. The Labor Government is essentially Socialist in philosophy and that affects its world view.

I have studied the Royal Navy for MANY years and can detail the deep decline of this once magnificent force. The UK no longer has any capital ships (cruisers & battleships) after HMS Vanguard went for scrap in 1960. Most of their large aircraft carriers were scrapped or paid off into reserve. One was cannibalised for parts. The only carriers now in the Royal Navy are the tiny thru-deck models of the Invincible class. They only carry about a dozen VSTOL aircraft and perhaps 4 or 5 Sea King helicopters. Even the ocean going hero of the Falklands War, the carrier HMS Hermes, was sold to India a few years ago. As history will bear out, the other ships in the fleet are extremely vulnerable...being poorly designed, insufficiently armed and poorly protected. Just look at those frigates that the UK lost at the Falklands as an example.

Be it fuel shortages (maybe) or dirty Socialist politics, the result is that the Royal Navy is sadly only a ghost of its former self. It can still fight, but it has been reduced to the point where it may not only lose its effectiveness, but Russia could deny its very right to exist.

Sorry this is so long, but it is an important topic as Britain is perhaps the only other naval force that can be counted on to help the United States.

-- Irving (irvingf@myremarq.com), February 22, 2000.

Irving: Thank you for those very interesting comments. I think the USA is going down as well. Only our final fall will be much harder. ...sdb

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18 "..Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:"Rev.17:1

-- S. David Bays (SDBAYS@prodigy.net), February 22, 2000.

SDB, ever thought about the arrogance of the BE and USA usurping the place given to the Jews in the Bible? Who is considered the premier religious authority in both these countries? And can you tell me when the Spanish Inquisition was 'officially' closed?

-- canthappen (n@ysayer.com), February 22, 2000.

canthappen: Excuse my ignorance but who is the BE? I'm not sure what your point is so why don't you tell us? ...sdb

-- S. David Bays (SDBAYS@prodigy.net), February 22, 2000.

Folks, cloaked in a lot of flaming rhetoric is the simple fact that they are looking a BUDGET problem.

C

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), February 22, 2000.