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Each vessel that flies the White Ensign has great affinity with those who served on them and the general public. Many Royal Navy ships bare the name of cities across the country, while also being affiliated to great naval bases such as Portsmouth.
The Royal Navy is looking to modernise its fleet and introduce new capabilities to replace the ones that are going out. Armed forces minister Luke Pollard previously stressed this in a Defence Select Committee meeting yesterday, stressing that there will be transition period for the force.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) often sells ships to other countries if they are functional, with many requiring restoration before being handed over. This is often to mitigate ongoing costs incurred to the taxpayer, especially if a vessel is not able to be used operationally. Closer diplomatic ties through such sales are also considered.
Many vessels are considered no longer seaworthy, and will be auctioned off to scrapyards across the globe - particularly those in Turkey that can take on a high proportion of ships. Here is a list of every Royal Navy ship that has been recycled or sold since the year 2000.
Vessels that have been decommissioned and do not currently have their future mapped out for them, such as HMS Montrose, HMS Enterprise, and others, have not been included.
Three vessels have no associated picture, so they are listed below:
- HMS Bridport: A Sandown-class minehunter, now known as EML Ugandi, which was decommissioned in 2005 and part of a deal to sell three minehunters to Estona.
- RFA Olwen: She was handed over for disposal on September 19, 2000. She was scrapped at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in India.
- HMS Kellington: The Ton-class minesweeper was decommissioned in 1993 and was turned into a training ship for the sea cadets. She was closed in 2005 for safety reasons, before being broken up in situ by Able UK in County Durham.
5. HMS Atherstone
HMS Atherstone, a Portsmouth-based Hunt-class mine countermeasures ship, spent much of her life in the Persian Gulf. She was decommissioned in 2017, stripped down in 2020, and sold to Harland & Wolff shipbuilders in 2022. The intention was to utilise the parts to refurbish HMS Quorn for the Lithuanian Navy, then rebuilding her for non military use. | Royal Navy
6. HMS Quorn
HMS Quorn, Hunt-class minehunter, sold to the Lithuanian Navy in 2020 for £1m. DE&S said income was generated from the sale of the sonar system on HMS Quorn, as well as £2.5m of savings. Harland & Wolff Appledore in Plymouth were awarded a £55m contract by the MoD to restore the ship. | Royal Navy
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7. HMS Herald
HMS Herald, a Hecla-class ocean survey ship that served in both the Falklands War and the Gulf War, was decommissioned on May 31, 2001. She initially joined HMS Hecla in Cork, and renamed MV Somerville after Admiral James Somerville, where she was tasked with hydrographic survey in Irish waters. HMS Herald was then sold in 2004 to Indian breakers and beached. | The News Portsmouth
8. HMS Birmingham
HMS Birmingham, Type 82 destroyer, was decommissioned in Portsmouth in 1999 and was towed to Spain to be scrapped on October 20, 2000. She served in the Persian Gulf, Mediterranean and other parts of the world. | Royal Navy