Britain borrows a ship from Germany. The Royal Navy under fire. “It's a national disgrace”

The British Royal Navy will “borrow” a ship from Germany because after sending the destroyer HMS Dragon to the Mediterranean Sea, it would not be able to fulfill its NATO obligations in the North Atlantic on its own – The i Paper daily revealed on Thursday.

In April, the UK was to take over command of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) – a permanent rapid reaction naval force operating mainly in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. But after HMS Dragon was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean due to the US-Israeli war with Iran, the Royal Navy currently has no ship to command SNMG1.

Apart from HMS Dragon, the only Type 45 guided missile destroyers remaining in active service are HMS Duncan and HMS Dauntless, but the former will be participating in a mission in the High North at this time, and the latter is undergoing routine overhaul after returning from another mission lasting several months. The remaining three Type 45 destroyers are either currently being modernized or undergoing post-modernization testing.

On Tuesday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that, in connection with the deployment of HMS Dragon to the Mediterranean, Germany will send the frigate Sachsen to the North Atlantic, which will take over command of SNMG1. But as reported by “The i Paper” and the Politico website, Royal Navy personnel will still command the SNMG1 mission, but they will do it from the Sachsen deck.

– It is a national disgrace that the Royal Navy has run out of ships. Britain certainly no longer controls the waves, Ben Obese-Jecty, an MP from the opposition Conservative Party and a former soldier, told The i Paper.

– I have repeatedly raised the issue of the potential lack of type 45 ships that would allow us to fulfill our obligations to NATO. Earlier this month, the Minister for Defense (John Healey), in response to my question as to whether he could guarantee that a Royal Navy ship would fulfill this role, assured me that we would fulfill our commitments to NATO. It seems that this will not be the case, he added. (PAP)

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