RE Iterators post
...if the navy cannot man the vessels that they currently have, even the MCDV's are having problems with manning, and they are done primarily by reservists, how do you propose that they man the vessels in the future?...
There need not be
more ships.
I'll probably get a name wrong so bear with me my naval Jane's is at home on top of the loo. I'll try to make the point with the limits of my oldish memory as sole support, forgive any errors...
If we return to my example of the Dutch, the
De Zeven Provincen 's are replacing the
Tromp's. This latter group were younger than the 280's. The
L class replace the older
Karel Doorman class (mid 70's (?)). Which in turn replaced the older
vanSpeijk class (essentially broad-beamed
Leanders of the late sixties). It seems the Dutch never really wear out their ships the way we do.
Look also at the British. The
Duke FFG's are replacing the
Broadsword Type 22's (mid 80's-
roughly contemporaries of our 330's) which in turn replaced the
Amazon Type 21's of the late 70's (and others, Type 12
Leander's for example-viz our Steamers). The
Daring DDG Type 45's are replacing the
Manchester and
Sheffield Type 42's. Again constant rollover.
Now the RN is somewhat bigger than MarCom but the example of the Dutch is comparable to us. A small-ish navy can still sustain a new keel every couple of years, taking into account AOR's, a dozen frigates and six or so DDH's as TOE and CCG.
