Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

The Royal Navy now has 15 times as many commanders as it has warships

So reports a British MP. The senior service now has 40 admirals, 260 captains — but just 19 ships, he alleges. But checking around the web, I think what the MP meant was that Britannia has just 19 major surface combatants (not counting minesweepers and such). It also has about a dozen submarines — but ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Flickr
Flickr
Flickr

So reports a British MP. The senior service now has 40 admirals, 260 captains -- but just 19 ships, he alleges. But checking around the web, I think what the MP meant was that Britannia has just 19 major surface combatants (not counting minesweepers and such). It also has about a dozen submarines -- but then, the British have always undervalued subs, haven't they?

So reports a British MP. The senior service now has 40 admirals, 260 captains — but just 19 ships, he alleges. But checking around the web, I think what the MP meant was that Britannia has just 19 major surface combatants (not counting minesweepers and such). It also has about a dozen submarines — but then, the British have always undervalued subs, haven’t they?

At any rate, the MP’s point is a good one. It appears that the RN could man an entire warship with surplus skippers. On the other hand, here’s one blog’s analysis that kind of knocks down the report. The blogger needs an editor — he leads with ancillary observations, and only after much throat-clearing gets to his argument. But worth wading through the top to get to the core argument.

The newspaper report adds that the British Army has more generals (260) than it has main battle tanks (200). I wonder if it has more artillery officers than artillery pieces. Anyone know?

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.