Tuesday Submarine Tidbits 2 June 2015

Background 

Today, we highlight manpower, a major challenge for Britain's senior sevice, its Royal Navy.  Some articles leading to our quest for a closer look were:

•  6 Aug 2014 -   The hidden crisis – Royal Navy manpower

•  3 May 2015 -  Royal Navy has just ONE nuclear submarine on active duty  

•  28 May 2015 - Defence Secretary rejects Ulsterman William McNeilly’s whistleblowing claims

A few SURPRISES   

• 10 Sep 2012 - Navy [takes on] just TEN 16-year old recruits in one year amid fears forces are failing to appeal to youngsters

•  6 Oct 2014 -  Royal Navy so short of personnel it has to borrow engineers from US Coast Guard   The trial partnership will begin this month when four personnel come over from America. Another 16 will follow in 2015 and 16 more in 2016, bringing the total to 36. The Royal Navy already has a number of regular and ongoing exchanges with other foreign navies including the French, Australian and New Zealand.

 

• 4 Feb 2015 -  Skills shortage leads Royal Navy to recruit overseas   Royal Navy is so sort of engineers that it is being forced to recruit in India and Canada.

Submarines are always silent and strange.