laststandonzombieisland

The Royal Navy has been on a steady decline since 1945, and while they do have a (limited) carrier deployment to the Far East currently-– including the first visit by a British flattop to Australia in over 25 years– everything else seems to be slipping to pay for it.

These tidbits:

HMS Lancaster (F229), a Type 23 (Duke-class) frigate, is reportedly leaving HMS Juffair in Bahrain without replacement, leaving RN forces in the region with only the aging minesweepers HMS Middleton (M34) and HMS Bangor. Lancaster has been forward deployed to the Persian Gulf since August 2022 through crew rotations and has accomplished a myriad of boarding and counter-smuggling operations in the region. There are only eight Type 23s in RN service, all of them with over 20 years of hard use on their hulls.

Five sisters have been retired.

While the days of the old Armilla patrol during the Cold War have long passed, the RN has kept a frigate in the region as part of Operation Kipion since at least 2018. Once the Type 26 Global Combat Ship and the Type 31 frigate start coming into service in 2028 (hold your breath), there may not be another British surface combatant deployed to HMS Juffair for a few years.

The only other escorts in the RN are the fleet’s six precious Type 45 (Daring) class DDGs, which are chained to their carriers.

The last of seven Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered submarines, HMS Triumph (S93), decommissioned at HMNB Devonport on 18 July 2025, wrapping up a 33-year career. She was a certified TLAM slinger in Afghanistan in 2001 and also chipped in on combat operations off Libya in 2011, coming back flying her second Jolly Roger.

Royal Navy Trafalgar Class submarine HMS Triumph is silhouetted against the Middle Eastern sun, 2012. Photo: LA(Phot) Abbie Gadd/MOD

In further HM Submarine Force blues, all six of the Admiralty’s Astute-class SSNs are offline with the recent return of HMS Anson (S123) to the Clyde last week.

• HMS Astute is just about to begin a mid-life refit in Devonport.
• HMS Audacious in dry dock in Devonport.
• HMS Ambush has been in Faslane and not put to sea for 3 years.
• HMS Artful is also in Faslane, having not put to sea in more than 2 years, although it seems likely she will begin to regenerate and return to operations soon.
• Boat 6, HMS Agamemnon, is afloat in the test and commissioning dock at Barrow and is expected to commission later this year in the shipyard, but is unlikely to be fully operational for at least 18 months after that.

The Admiralty has gone on record as wanting a full dozen AUKUS SSNs, but that is more of a 2030s goal.

Finally, with the RN having virtually no serious amphibious warfare assets any longer, having sold it all to Brazil, the 28,000-ton “Littoral strike ship” RFA Argus (A135), currently under a stalled refit, has been deemed “unsafe to sail” by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Lloyds Register.

RFA Argus (A135), seen in better days

Navy Lookout said Argus had its safety certification “withdrawn” due to a series of “unresolved issues”. These reportedly include problems with fire doors, a persistent leak from the ballast tank, and a worn seal on the main aircraft lift.

“It is planned that Argus will start a major Life Extension refit next year after the MoD decided that she will remain in service beyond 2030 (by which time she will be 50 years old).”