Conservative Party MP James Crapson disclosed a set of data during a debate in the House of Commons: the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom currently has 119 admirals and 260 captains.
Among them, there are 3 admirals, 9 vice admirals, 31 rear admirals, and 76 commodores.
These admirals include the Chief of Defence Staff, Sir Anthony David Radakin; the First Sea Lord, Sir Benjamin John Key; and the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Sir Keith Edward Blount.
However, despite the Royal Navy's large number of admirals, its main surface vessels number only 21.
This means the ratio of captains to warships is a staggering 12:1.
It has been pointed out that globally, this ratio is almost unprecedented, making the balance of power between the British Army and Navy more equitable.
Crapson remarked during the debate: "In the past, the dream of naval captains was to command their own ships, but today, their dream is to be able to get on board a ship."
Some netizens jokingly remarked: "Among the 260 captains, currently only 5 are at sea."
Although the UK has 10 nuclear-powered submarines, apart from two aircraft carriers, its surface vessels are generally not sufficiently formidable.
Of these 21 surface vessels, the largest displacement belongs to the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, both conventional-powered medium-sized carriers with a displacement of 65,000 tons each, launched in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
These two carriers can carry up to 36 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets and helicopters.
Despite having these two carriers, which many countries envy, they often encounter various problems.
Not long ago, HMS Queen Elizabeth temporarily docked due to power system failure, while HMS Prince of Wales replaced her in participating in NATO maritime military exercises.
Apart from carriers, the largest displacement surface vessels are two Albion-class landing platform docks, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, with a displacement of 19,560 tons each, capable of transporting up to 67 Challenger 2 main battle tanks.
In addition, the Royal Navy has 6 Type 45 Daring-class destroyers with a full displacement of 8,500 tons, the newest of which was launched in 2013.
These destroyers are claimed by the manufacturer to be "the world's most advanced air defense destroyers".
The Royal Navy also has 11 Duke-class frigates with a full displacement of 4,900 tons, the oldest of which entered service in 1991, while the newest, HMS St Albans, was launched in 2002.
Overall, the Royal Navy's fleet includes around 7 minesweepers with a displacement of about 800 tons each.
However, two of these minesweepers recently collided in the waters near Bahrain. Someone sarcastically commented: "It doesn't matter if there are fewer ships, but can't we have fewer admirals? Otherwise, how can we spend so much military expenditure?"
Comments