- The Royal Navy is in crisis and at a historic low in terms of surface combatants, with few frigates left in service
- Future Type 26 and Type 31 frigates are still years away from delivery, with the Royal Navy shifting to its so-called “hybrid” model
- The UK MoD cited “national security” in its reasoning to queries regarding the future of HMS Richmond
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has declined to confirm that HMS Richmond, an ageing Type 23 frigate in service with the Royal Navy, will be decommissioned from service in 2026, following a spate of media reports over the past week.
Local outlet Richmondshire Today wrote on 19 January that the members of the ship’s crew of HMS Richmond would parade through the town of Richmond on 21 January “for a farewell visit”, adding that the frigate was due to be decommissioned “within the next year”.
This report was subsequently taken up by a range of digital defence outlets and blogs, as the Royal Navy’s meagre surface fleet appeared set to take a further hit.
However, when contacted by Naval Technology to verify media reports, the UK MoD said that the Royal Navy “continues to manage a complex transition from ageing Type 23 frigates to a ‘hybrid navy’”, in reference to a planned aim to add as-yet undefined uncrewed capabilities to the fleet.
“We do not routinely disclose individual out of service dates for warships for reasons of national security,” the spokesperson said.
While recent months have seen an increase in the use of national security as reason to not provide information to the public, an earlier schedule for the decommissioning of the Type 23 frigates put HMS Richmond as due to leave service in 2030.
A departure in 2026 – fully four years ahead of the timeline – and following an extensive upgrade process including completion of the PGMU programme, would be a significant loss, fiscally and capability-wise, for a Royal Navy struggling to keep itself afloat.
The Royal Navy in 2026: beyond salvage?
The dire state of the Royal Navy, with no new frigates due to enter service until 2028 at the earliest, looks set to get even worse over the next 24 months, as a perfect storm of ageing vessels, maintenance backlogs, and compounded failures by UK governments, continue to hit the fleet.
With the Royal Navy down to its smallest number of surface combatants for over a century, a top-heavy fleet structure caused by the procurement of two aircraft carriers, and a submarine force fairing no better, it is questionable whether it is possible to salvage the service’s future.
According to reports, just one of five in-service nuclear-powered attack submarines is operational, recently tasked to head to Australia, while maintenance problems with the Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines means ever-extending nuclear deterrent patrols.
Further highlighting the state of the Royal Navy, a 23 January release claimed that two old Batch 1 River-class offshore patrol vessels had “intercepted” a Russian Project 20380/Steregushchiy-class missile corvette in the English Channel, despite the Russian warship being legally entitled to transit an internationally recognised transit corridor under maritime law.
That the Royal Navy only had two fisheries patrol vessels available to perform the so-called intercept of a vastly more capable Russian vessel is indicative of the resources available to the senior service.
