Sir, In September of this year, my entry will celebrate 50 years since we marched up the hill to Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, smart in our brand new cadet uniforms. It falls to me and a colleague to compare the Fleet that we joined in 1958 with what remains in 2008.

Class of ship 1958 2008

Battleship 1 0

Aircraft carriers 10 3

Amphibious assault ships 0 3

Cruisers 16 0

Destroyers 55 8

Frigates 127 17

Minelayers 16 0

Minesweepers 243 16

Patrol boats 17 18

Survery ships 10 5

Support ships 89 16

Royal Yacht 1 0

Submarines 60 13

Total 645 99

Sic transit gloria mundi.

If the diminished Royal Navy yet manages to fulfil the great range of tasks demanded by the Government, among whom military experience is a very rare quality, then it can only be because of the dedication of the Jolly Tars, men and women, who remain as stalwart and loyal as ever.

Cdr R. W. Kent, RN (Retd)

Cheltenham, Glos

Sir, Commander R. W. Kent (letter, May 9 ) shows that the Fleet is less than one-sixth the size it was in 1958 and consists of only 99 surface ships, submarines and support vessels.

However, I am unable to find more than 70 surface ships, some of which are not operational and have already been decommissioned, and 13 submarines, meaning the Navy is in fact one-eighth the size it was in 1958.

There are three carriers, but only one is operational and the oldest two are decommissioned. There are only two amphibious assault ships, Albion and Bulwark. The 18 (unarmed) patrol boats, hardly count; there are apparently only three fishery protection vessels plus one OPV.

Regrettably, the Government appears determined to reduce the Navy yet further by decommissioning five more frigates and destroyers and two fleet submarines in the coming 12 months and an overall plan to dispense entirely with mine countermeasure vessels and patrol ships.

Lt Cdr Kenneth P. Armitage, RN (Ret’d)

Kesgrave Suffolk

Sir, I wonder which of the two battleships has been forgotten about in the 1958 table. Was it the still-commissioned HMS Victory or HMS Vanguard, anchored only a few cables away in the middle of Portsmouth Harbour? The one which last fired its guns in anger was Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over 130 years before Vanguard was built.

H. J. bebbington

Grayshott, Hampshire

Sir, Commander Kent’s letter (May 9) shows that since 1958 the number of ships in the Royal Navy has fallen from 645 to 99. Will the MoD please provide corresponding statistics on the number of admirals?

John Deas

Alsager, Cheshire

Sir, Mr Deas asks how many admirals we employ (letter, May 10). According to the latest report from DASA, the official defence statistical agency, there are 40 admirals — three full, seven vice and 30 rear.

There are far fewer warships than admirals: around 20 submarines, frigates, destroyers and larger vessels are in commission, typically commanded by officers three ranks below the least of these potentates.

Do we need so top-heavy an organisation to direct so few resources? Do we indeed need a separate naval service at all?

Noel Falconer

Luc-sur-Aude, France

Sir, It’s not the number of admirals but the number of civil servants that saps resources.

Gordon Freeman

Ballycastle, Co Antrim

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