Navy
Reports: Sick Leave Puts Royal Navy In Troubled Waters
Sick leave is weighing heavy on the already stretched resources of the Royal Navy, according to figures revealed by the Mirror.
Grappling with defence reviews and manpower shortages has left the Admiralty with 31,000 personnel, the lowest in its history.
Couple that with 4,740 personnel on sick leave and you have warships with a shortfall of staff, all of which can be said to compromise combat capability.
The crisis affects destroyers, frigates and submarines, with a 45 per cent shortage of marine engineers.
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To stop the gaps, sailors are being sent from one warship to another to keep up operational capability before recruiting begins.
The senior service is struggling to assign 800 crew to new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which will be commissioned into service next July. Two assault ships will go out of service so it can be manned properly.
In 2013 General Sir Nicholas Houghton, head of UK Armed Forces said:
“The Royal Navy is perilously close to its critical mass in terms of manpower.”
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