Where has it all gone

Where has it all gone?

Written by Godfrey Dykes

© RN Communications Branch Museum/Library

Oh, how things have changed! There must have been more change in the Navy in the last 40 odd years, than in the 100 years before it. This small snippet is about the dockyards and the on-shore support facilities

In the 1960's, we had facilities around the world. Well, to be fair, whilst we could use the world wide facilities, we didn't own them. We did however, own the facilities in Malta, Singapore, Gibraltar, Aden, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Cyprus [though the naval facilities were modest to say the least], Diego Garcia/Gan/Mauritius/Ceylon West [ours yes, but no real naval facilities] and one or two odds and ends of no real significance. We also had Chatham, Portland, Rosyth, Faslane, Rothesay, Londonderry, Devonport, Portsmouth, Gosport, plus other ports like Harwich and Penarth [for example] which had had an association with the Royal Navy. Quite a large filing cabinet of assets for a Navy which was already reducing in size. Extending the above mentioned Port facilities, we had a large fleet of RFA's. We also used, as though they were our own, facilities in Sydney NSW and Halifax Canada for our submarines, owned by the RN, but whose operational costs were met by the Australian and Canadian governments respectively. When stationed 'down under' or 'across the pond' we submariners earned our salary, our submarine pay, our hard lying money and a special bonus paid by the respective host governments.

Here are the berthing plans for some of those ports. I have left out a few, some to save space, whilst Malta is left out because the berthing plan is too involved. Malta had several quite separate areas around the Island in which we could park our ships, although much revolved around the Grand Harbour in Valletta.

ROYAL NAVY COMMAND AND ORGANISATION

FLEET COMMAND AND ORGANISATION

FLEET FIRST

A decision for change was made in 1999 and the Fleet Future Integrated and Rationalised Study Team (Fleet First) was set up to make proposals and then implement them. The first decision to be implemented was to co-locate the majority of shore staff in one building. Whale Island, Portsmouth was selected and the main Fleet Staff is now in situ. CinC Fleet and the deployment staff who manage day-to-day fleet operations remain at Northwood, together with the NATO Staff and the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ).

Next, the previous organisation by type (i.e. submarines, aircraft, surface ships, Marines) has changed to one based on function – operations, capability, support. The seven destroyer, submarine and frigate squadrons have been replaced by 'Fleet Waterfront Organisations' at Portsmouth, Devonport and Faslane – each is commanded by a Commodore.

These organisations are very much part of the Fleet HQ, though geographically dispersed and they exist to provide guidance and support to the units under their command. On return from a task or deployment the individual ship will be welcomed and supported in its home base by a shore staff familiar with the ship and its possible problems. A similar 'Waterfront' scheme has been established for the Royal Marines, Fleet Air Arm and the ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

FLEET COMMAND AND ORGANISATION

The three simplified diagrams below provide the broad picture of the new command and management system for the fleet.

OVERALL FLEET COMMAND ORGANISATION
(For clarity, this diagram and those below are simplified. Many Commanders have two “hats”, e.g. COM (Ops) is also Rear Admiral Submarines)

Ranks of Commanders. Four Star is Admiral, Three Star is Vice Admiral, Two Star is a Rear Admiral (or Major General RM), One Star is a Commodore (or Brigadier RM).

OUTLINE FLEET STAFF ORGANISATION

FLEET WATERFRONT ORGANISATION

NAVAL PERSONNEL

The Navy’s 'Second Sea Lord and CINC Naval Home Command' is responsible for all naval manpower matters. With a nation having no serious current unemployment problems, the Royal Navy is competing for high grade people against attractive other careers. The key word is 'quality' as highly intelligent officers and ratings are essential to man the ships – and the same applies to the Royal Marines and RFA.

'Stretch' (long periods away from UK) is a matter of some importance as, though sailors and marines will respond to good leadership, they can be pushed (stretched) too far – good pay or even Financial Retention Incentives (FRIs is the slogan) are not enough. The Fleet has been stretched for many years and has continued to perform satisfactorily but personnel numbers have been falling. As mentioned above, the size of the Fleet has also been reducing following the end of the Cold War but it is now needs to stabilise at its present level in support of UK government policy.

Over a similar period as the 'Fleet First' initiative discussed previously the Second Sea Lord’s department has been undertaking a fundamental study of today’s and tomorrow’s personnel problems. The long term vehicle for strategic management change in the Naval Service is called 'Tomorrow’s Personnel Management System – Topmast' and the aim has been to look very carefully into the future using a team drawn from all levels of officers and ratings.

One initiative already underway in surface ships is to group junior ratings of the three main branches (Warfare, Engineering, Supply) into 'Squads' in individual ships. For example, a Warfare Squad will have about 1.3 times the number of personnel to fill the posts in the complement, allowing the margin to be sent on leave, do courses ashore or undertake advancement training without affecting the fighting efficiency of the ship. The system is managed by the ship’s officers, so that all involved are treated as valuable individuals.

LOGISTIC AND MAINTENANCE SUPPORT FOR THE FLEET

Separate logistic support for the three Services ended in 2000 with the establishment of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO). The DLO’s mission is to provide joint logistic support to the UK Armed Services and employs about 30,000 personnel, of whom about 7,250 are uniformed (45% of uniformed personnel are R.N. officers and ratings). The DLO supports all equipments, systems and platforms in service with the Navy and its five agencies all support the Fleet. These agencies are:

Warship Support Agency. This is the principal agency that supports the Fleet.

Equipment Support (Land). Support for Royal Marines

Equipment Support (Air). Support for Fleet Air Arm.

Defence Supply Chain. Food, Stores and Ammunition

Defence Communications. All voice and data services, including Satcom.

The majority of RN personnel in DLO work in the Naval Bases and are managed by the Warship Support Agency (WSA). The WSA was set up in April 2001 and has its Headquarters in Abbey Wood, Bristol with other elements at Bath, Rosyth, Exeter, Pembroke Dock and the three Naval Bases. The WSA’s annual budget is about £2 billion and fixed assets are valued at over £7 billion.

The support of modern warships as different and complex as nuclear submarines, carriers and minesweepers is a vast subject and is outside the scope of this brief summary. However, an example of a major operational problem with huge implications was the discovery of a serious nuclear plant defect in HMS Tireless. Every UK nuclear submarine (16 of them) had to be checked and this involved close co-operation between a wide variety of authorities both service and civilian. The highly successful repair programme was managed by WSA.

ROYAL NAVY SHORE ESTABLISHMENTS AND NAVAL RESERVE UNITS

MAJOR BASES

H.M. NAVAL BASE - PORTSMOUTH

Function: Home base to surface ships, notably Carriers, Type 42 Destroyers and Type 23 Frigates.

Other Functions: Commander-in-Chief Home Command organisation is based within the Naval Base.

H. M. NAVAL BASE - DEVONPORT

Function: Largest naval base in Western Europe. Home port for Nuclear Attack Submarines (SSNs), Type 42 Destroyers, Type 23 Frigates, Hydrographic Ships.

Other Functions: Flag Officer Sea Training R.N. Hydrographic School.

H.M. NAVAL BASE - CLYDE

Function: Home base to UK’s Nuclear Deterrent Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs). Also base to SSNs and minewarfare vessels.

Other Functions: HMS Caledonia at Rosyth provides support for naval personnel standing by ships and submarines in refit.

R.N. AIR STATION - YEOVILTON

Function: Home base to RN Sea Harriers, naval helicopter squadrons and other fixed wing aircraft. Yeovilton operates over 100 aircraft of different types. Nearly 4,000 uniformed and civilian personnel work at RNAS Yeovilton.

Other Functions: Training of aircrew and engineers of resident aircraft types. RN Fighter Controller School trains ground and airborne AEW controllers.

R.N. AIR STATION - CULDROSE

Function: RNAS Culdrose supports the Anti- Submarine Warfare and Airborne Early Warning helicopter squadrons of the Royal Navy. Eight Naval Air Squadrons are based at RNAS Culdrose, both front line and training Squadrons.

Other Functions: Responsible for the Operational and Advanced Flying Training of helicopter pilots, observers and aircrewmen.

TRAINING ESTABLISHMENTS

BRNC DARTMOUTH

Function: The principal function of the College is the training of young officers for service in the Royal Navy. A large number of students from friendly Navies are also trained here.

Other Functions: A variety of other course are undertaken including Leadership & Teambuilding Programmes, seamanship, navigation and other naval subjects.

H.M.S. RALEIGH

Function: H.M.S. Raleigh is the new entry training establishment for all junior ratings entering the Royal Navy and the Royal Naval Reserve. About 2,500 people work in the Establishment and a New Entry of up to some 100 ratings joins almost every week of the year.

Other Functions: Also houses the Royal Naval Supply School, the Royal Naval Submarine School, the Royal Naval Seamanship School and schools for Firefighting and Nuclear Biological Chemical Defence.

H.M.S. EXCELLENT

Function: H.M.S. Excellent provides a wide range of different training functions and support services, preparing personnel for life at sea. H.M.S. Bristol is a retired 7,000 ton destroyer, berthed alongside at H.M.S. Excellent, She is used for Harbour Training of RN, RNR and other R.N. related organisations. It was on the 22nd March 1993 that Bristol took over from HMS Kent as the RN Cadet Forces accommodation and Training Ship vide DCI[RN]64/93

Other Functions: Support for HMS Bristol, Head Quarters Royal Marines HQRM and the fleet support units which are responsible for fire fighting and damage control training whilst at sea.

H.M.S. COLLINGWOOD

Function: HMS Collingwood is the Royal Navy’s School of Communications and Weapon Engineering and is one of the largest training establishments in Europe.

Other Functions: Training is split into 3 faculties - Communications, Engineering Principles and Weapon Engineering. The training is carried out by both civilian and uniformed personnel.

H.M.S. DRYAD

Function: The School of Maritime Operations (SMOPS) trains Warfare personnel appropriately for their individual tasks. SMOPS provides training to over 5000 students a year, attending over 265 different types of courses.

Other Functions: Training of UK and foreign students in both above and under water warfare is the principal task. H.M.S. Dryad is also the specialist navigation school of the Royal Navy.

H.M.S. SULTAN

Function: H.M.S. Sultan is the school of Marine and Air Engineering for the R.N. Training of Marine and Air Engineers of Foreign and Commonwealth Navies is also undertaken. Large numbers of officer and rating students are trained annually e.g. the Ship Systems Group alone has a throughput of some 1400 students per year. There are five other similar training groups

Other Functions: Also home to the Admiralty Interview Board, and other lodger units including the Central Air and Admiralty Medical Board.

HIGHER MANAGEMENT OF THE ROYAL NAVY

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is a Department of State, headed by the Secretary of State for Defence (SofS) who creates Defence Policy and plans the spending of the Defence Budget. The MoD is the highest level of headquarters for the Armed Forces, both Administrative and Operational. All major issues of policy are referred to the Secretary of State or to one of his three Ministerial colleagues:

1. Minister for the Armed Forces Min(AF) responsible for Operational and Policy Issues
2. Minister for Defence Procurement Min (DP) responsible for all Procurement Matters
3. Under Secretary of State for Defence (USofS) responsible for Personnel, Estate Matters and Veterans Issues.

Under the Defence Council, management of the Services is the responsibility of the Service Boards, in the case of the Royal Navy the Admiralty Board.

THE ADMIRALTY BOARD

The routine management of the Royal Navy is the responsibility of The Admiralty Board, the composition of which is as follows:

The Secretary of State for Defence
Minister of State (Armed Forces)
Minister of State (Defence Procurement)
vParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence
Chief of the Naval Staff and First Sea Lord
Commander-in-Chief Fleet
Second Sea Lord and Commander-In-Chief Naval Home Command
Naval Member for Logistics
Controller of the Navy Permanent Under-Secretary of State and Secretary of the Admiralty Board
Assistant Chief of Naval Staff

The Admiralty Board meets formally twice a year

THE NAVY BOARD

The First Sea Lord's responsibilities (delivery of naval capabilities, maintaining the strategic deterrent, planning and operational advice, management, overall efficiency and morale of the service) are exercised through the Service Executive Committee of the Admiralty Board, known as the Navy Board (NAVB). The First Sea Lord is the chairman of NAVB; its membership is the same as the Admiralty Board, but without Ministers. NAVB meets formally on a regular basis.

SUB NAVY BOARD COMMITTEE

Many routine Navy decisions are taken by the Sub Navy Board Committee (SNBC) which is chaired by the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (ACNS) with the NAVB members' deputies; Deputy Commander in Chief Fleet (DCINCFLEET), COS/2SL/CNH, Chief of the Strategic Systems Executive (CSSE), Capability Manager (Strategic Deterrent CM(SD) and Director General Resources and Plans (DGRP).

Finally, what's the betting that in 28 years time, 2032, the whole Navy, lock stock and barrel will be in Collingwood, and the town of Fareham will be growing on the side of it?