Moment defence secretary 'embarrassingly' struggles to name navy fleet size
The minister stumbled over his words when asked by LBC's Nick Ferrari at breakfast when asked how many frigates were at his disposal
Defence Secretary John Healey has been branded "embarrassing" as he struggled to name the number of ships in the UK's navy fleet.
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The minister stumbled over his words when asked by LBC's Nick Ferrari at breakfast when asked how many frigates were at his disposal.
After a long delay, Mr Healey said: "We have 17 frigates and destroyers. It's down from 23 at the end of the last Labour government."
Read more: Germany ‘bailing us out’ with Nato flagship after HMS Dragon sent to Cyprus
The figure, which is down from previous published total of 23, was claimed to be inaccurate by defence analyst Francis Tusa.
LBC has contacted the Ministry of Defence for the official figure.
Speaking with Nick following Healey's comments, Ms Tusa told LBC he was 'flabbergasted' by his response.
The government has faced criticism over its sluggish deployment of HMS Dragon to defend British troops stationed on Cyprus, after British bases were hit by Iranian drone strikes at the start of March.
The flagship war vessel has been the only ship sent out by the UK since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, but set sail a week after her mission was announced.
The delay has been widely viewed as a reflection of the decades of cuts to the military by successive governments.
Asked where the remaining 16 ships were, Mr Healey once again struggled to answer, but eventually said: “Every nation with every piece of its military kit has some in operation, some on deployment, some in states of readiness, some being repaired and maintained.”
He then added: "I have to make decisions based on what we've got. We were preparing Dragon in order to play that flagship role. The way that Iran hit back in an indiscriminate, widespread way meant I needed to reinforce the defences that we'd already, before the conflict broke out, put into the Middle East.
"It's why our British pilots have now racked up over 1,000 hours of flight. And we can't just allow ourselves to focus fully on the Middle East. It's why we've had British Royal Navy ships shadowing Russian warships through the English Channel last week. And in the first week of the Middle Eastern conflict, we face threats on a number of fronts."
Healey's interview infuriated LBC callers, with Steve from islington telling Nick: "That was pathetic. I feel embarrassed for the guy. he doesn't even know how many ships we have."
Richard, from Ealing, who served 17 years in the navy, added: "The problem is he says we have 17 frigates and destroyers. But how many of those are operational? It's deeply embarrassing."
Mr Healey also admitted Britain has been forced to 'borrow' a German frigate following the deployment of HMS Dragon to the Middle East.
Admitting he's 'not happy' with the situation, the Defence Secretary admitted Royal Navy personnel are set to serve aboard the German flagged vessel.
"The Germans have stepped in to supply their warship, while I can deploy Dragon to reinforce defences in the Middle East," he told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast.
"But that group, that ship will still be commanded by a Royal Navy commodore. It will still have his battle team on board... It’ll be a German flagship vessel,” he added.