The Royal Navy in Crisis

Muffle your drums, play your pipes merrily,
Play the death march as you go along.
And fire your guns right over my coffin,
There goes an unfortunate lad to his home.

As reported on over at Galrahn’s and Lex’s places, the London Telegraph published a damning report this weekend regarding the critical state the Royal Navy has now reached.  As quoted in the Telegraph, Liam Fox, the shadow Tory defence secretary, said: "We have come all the way from Lord Nelson to a part-time defence secretary, with the consequence that the Royal Navy now finds itself in the most degenerated state in which it has ever been. Labour has done what none of this countries’ enemies have been able to do: bring the Navy to its knees."

How bad is it? 

It’s been said a picture is worth a thousand words – look below the fold and see it in action.

The Ever-shrinking Royal Navy – a cautionary tale for its New world cousin?

One would imagine a similar graph for the US Navy as being similarly eye-opening, especially where ASW forces were concerned (SSNs, P-3 and S-3 squadrons, for example)