sven hassell
Active member
Once upon a time not so long ago Britain ruled the waves:
Swap ship ... HMS Exeter has sister boat's crew
FULL NEWS INDEX ››
TOP DISCUSSIONS
By TOM NEWTON-DUNN
Defence Editor
May 14, 2007
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
WARSHIP crews will be taken off their boats and replaced by other sailors after each mission under drastic cost-cutting plans.
The shock policy being drawn up by top brass will end centuries of Royal Navy tradition of each vessel having its own permanent crew.
Critics claim “hot-shipping” could create a fleet of ghost ships manned by crews with no loyalty to them.
It has also sparked fears for safety — with sailors being pushed straight into the frontline on unfamiliar vessels.
Ships have been assigned permanent crews ever since King Henry VIII began to build the first Royal Navy fleet in 1509.
But with a dire shortage of vessels and cash, hot-shipping is one of the only ways Navy chiefs believe they can now meet all the tasks demanded of them by the MoD.
Sea change ... HMS Edinburgh's crew flew home
Swapping crews means a ship can be left in position across the globe rather than sailing to and from Britain to allow its sailors a break between missions.
A senior Navy source said last night: “We’re being forced to think the unthinkable because the Navy has already been cut to the bone. Of course hot-shipping will be a disaster but it’s the only way we can survive without any more funding.”
Trials for the new policy — dubbed “Sea Swap” — have already begun. Sailors from the Type 42 destroyer HMS Exeter have flown to the South Atlantic to take over sister ship HMS Edinburgh halfway through its ten-month deployment.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh’s 130-strong company have jetted back to the UK to take charge of Exeter. It emerged last year that the Navy could soon be left with just 18 major sea-going ships — compared to 108 at the time of the Falklands War in 1982.
Swap ship ... HMS Exeter has sister boat's crew
FULL NEWS INDEX ››
By TOM NEWTON-DUNN
Defence Editor
May 14, 2007
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
WARSHIP crews will be taken off their boats and replaced by other sailors after each mission under drastic cost-cutting plans.
The shock policy being drawn up by top brass will end centuries of Royal Navy tradition of each vessel having its own permanent crew.
Critics claim “hot-shipping” could create a fleet of ghost ships manned by crews with no loyalty to them.
It has also sparked fears for safety — with sailors being pushed straight into the frontline on unfamiliar vessels.
Ships have been assigned permanent crews ever since King Henry VIII began to build the first Royal Navy fleet in 1509.
But with a dire shortage of vessels and cash, hot-shipping is one of the only ways Navy chiefs believe they can now meet all the tasks demanded of them by the MoD.
Swapping crews means a ship can be left in position across the globe rather than sailing to and from Britain to allow its sailors a break between missions.
A senior Navy source said last night: “We’re being forced to think the unthinkable because the Navy has already been cut to the bone. Of course hot-shipping will be a disaster but it’s the only way we can survive without any more funding.”
Trials for the new policy — dubbed “Sea Swap” — have already begun. Sailors from the Type 42 destroyer HMS Exeter have flown to the South Atlantic to take over sister ship HMS Edinburgh halfway through its ten-month deployment.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh’s 130-strong company have jetted back to the UK to take charge of Exeter. It emerged last year that the Navy could soon be left with just 18 major sea-going ships — compared to 108 at the time of the Falklands War in 1982.