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Royal Navy - Ranks 32nd on the world stage.

I joined a Royal Navy that had 75,000 sailors and over 125 warships and submarines.

Today, in terms of strength, we have 30,000 sailors and rank 32nd, just behind Qatar and well behind Greece, Bolivia, Mexico,Columbia, Finland & France in terms of combat vessels.

Even a pacifist conscientious objector in a pedalo would have more chance of of fighting their way out of a wet paper bag, I fear.

The following makes a depressing read. I couldn't bring myself to read the Army and RAF stats but am fairly sure they'll be equally as soul-destroying:

Total Naval Strength by Country
 
The figures do tell a story...and yes depressing, but not a totally complete one.

The qualitative edge of a smaller weapon, that carries a perhaps strength of its own.

In these perhaps uninspiring times we might have to look more carefully for the less obvious qualities that are still present.
 
But....

How many of these combat vessels are properly armed combatants? A patrol vessel with a 30mm cannon and small arms counts as a combat vessel, but is not going to survive long in a real fight.

How many of these countries have SSNs? How many have capable amphibious forces? or a carrier capability? How many regularly deploy and sustain task groups?

Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
 
When North Korea, Iran and Egypt are in the top ten; maybe a wee bit of perspective required? They appear to have counted a rowing boat c/w Black Widow catapult as a naval asset.
 
Meh. The figures are too nebulous to be worth anything. Egypt gets the same score for owning 2 Mistrals as we do for 2 CVF...
 
I've got on my shelves (actually in storage) "Postwar Decline of British Naval Power" by the former Telegraph Defence Correspondent. He amended it shortly after the Falklands War, which he described as the nadir of British sea power. I really wonder what he would think today?

However, It's not all bad news. Standfast the intercooler issues of the T-45, there is a world-leading AAW destroyer which is a pretty cool looking ship as well. And 2 QEC which could make all potential belligerents' eyes water. And the Dreadnought Class SSBNs
 
Corrected, etc...

Well they will not have SSBNs without SSNs, and are more likely to have SSNs.

Anyway - Mexico has only four frigates (all former US Knox class built in the sixties/seventies), but no other major surface combatants and no submarines, France has a bit of a shortage of ASW capability (not helped by not putting ASW helicopters aboard their carrier) etc.

I've got on my shelves (actually in storage) "Postwar Decline of British Naval Power" by the former Telegraph Defence Correspondent. He amended it shortly after the Falklands War, which he described as the nadir of British sea power. I really wonder what he would think today?

However, It's not all bad news. Standfast the intercooler issues of the T-45, there is a world-leading AAW destroyer which is a pretty cool looking ship as well. And 2 QEC which could make all potential belligerents' eyes water. And the Dreadnought Class SSBNs

But how would the destroyers and frigates of the seventies compare to the Type 23, Type 45, and future ships in terms of capability, days that could be achieved at sea per year and so on?

Also - in combat having ships capable of defending themselves and hitting the enemy counts more than numbers of hulls.
 
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What are we comparing anyway? We had about 18 capital ships (carriers and battleships) and 75 major combatants (cruisers) during WW2. We've got 6 Capital ships (carriers and bombers) and 25 major combatants (attack subs, frigates, and destroyers) today.
 
I joined a Royal Navy that had 75,000 sailors and over 125 warships and submarines.

Today, in terms of strength, we have 30,000 sailors and rank 32nd, just behind Qatar and well behind Greece, Bolivia, Mexico,Columbia, Finland & France in terms of combat vessels.

Even a pacifist conscientious objector in a pedalo would have more chance of of fighting their way out of a wet paper bag, I fear.

The following makes a depressing read. I couldn't bring myself to read the Army and RAF stats but am fairly sure they'll be equally as soul-destroying:

Total Naval Strength by Country
Behind Bolivia? It's not necessarily a numbers game. Most of the strength of the Bolivian navy is in small fibreglass craft.
Screenshot_20181006-155604.png
 
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