Navy enlistment crisis impedes sending UK aircraft carriers to Red Sea
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The RFA Fort Victoria is unable to sail due to a shortage of personnel.
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British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves Portsmouth Naval base and sets sail for flight trials on September 9, 2020. (AP)
Britain's aircraft carriers are not ready to deploy to the Red Sea due to a recruitment issue in the Armed Forces, The Telegraph reported.
The Yemeni SABA news agency in Sanaa reported Friday that the American-Israeli-British aggression launched multiple airstrikes on the capital Sanaa and the provinces of Hodeidah, Saada, and Dhamar, and Rishi Sunak has recently warned that the country would "continue to take action" if the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) did not de-escalate their attacks in the Red Sea.
The second day, the US renewed its aggression on Yemen targeting an airbase north of Sanaa.
The US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed on Saturday that US forces carried out a strike that targeted an alleged radar site used by the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen.
"This strike was conducted by the USS Carney (DDG 64) using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on Jan. 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels," Centcom said in a statement on X.
Read more: Yemeni Armed Forces conduct exercises amid US-UK aggression
HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's £3 billion aircraft carrier, might be sent to the region as part of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which includes modern warships, submarines, helicopters, and fifth-generation fighter fighters.
However, The Telegraph knows that RFA Fort Victoria, the sole Solid Support Ship capable of supplying the CSG with the necessary ammunition, planes, spare equipment, and food for a complete deployment, is unable to sail due to a shortage of personnel.
Read more: US strikes on Yemen unlikely to deter YAF, halt attacks
The ship typically has a 100-person crew but is now operating with a smaller crew, and although it has no mechanical issues, it remains in Liverpool's Cammell Laird shipyard, despite being scheduled to return to the ocean last year after major repairs since its voyage with the CSG to the Indo-Pacific in 2021.
It is believed that the Navy has prioritized crewing other Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels over RFA Fort Victoria, such as tankers that provide fuel for ships and bay class landing crafts that bring humanitarian relief and serve as a mothership for mine-hunting vessels.
Lord West, the former First Sea Lord, called the vessel's neglect "atrocious" and emphasized that Fort Victoria ought to have been of higher priority.
UK defense officials claim there are other ways to support the carriers if the cruiser is dispatched to the region, including collaborations with other nations to get adequate supplies and transferring sailors from other merchant navy boats to RFA Fort Victoria, although this would need training time.
UK ministers underestimated recruitment crisis
Pete Sandeman, a naval expert, remarked that reliance on friendly nations for logistical help is limited.
The Telegraph previously reported that the Navy has decommissioned warships HMS Westminster and HMS Argyll to staff its new frigates due to a lack of personnel.
The Navy's recruiting issue is impacting the whole Armed Forces and its support branches, resulting in a decline in new recruits.
John Healey, Labour’s shadow defense secretary, blamed the Conservative Government for this failure, expressing that "our Navy support ships are spending less time at sea, and ministers have failed to get to grips with the growing recruitment crisis."
Although the RFA has a fleet of 11 ships, the number of support ships available for deployment with the Navy has decreased by half over the last decade.
Labour figures indicate that RFA boats spent fewer than 1,200 days "at readiness" for deployment in 2022, down from more than 2,400 days in 2013.
Tobias Ellwood, the former chairman of the Defence Select Committee, urged the government to increase pay and conditions for the RN and RFA in order to solve the shortage, noting that the "wider security interests" of the UK are in danger.
