Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Where is the Royal Navy?

Almost every blog I read at the moment is full of praise for the US and Australian navies who are leading the relief operations in Asian after the tsunami.

As a patriotic Brit I was wondering quite what has happened to the Royal Navy and why bloggers are not praising their efforts too. From the Department for International Development, this is why:

The Armed Forces are providing support to the disaster relief efforts which are being coordinated by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and DFID.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary [Diligence], the frigate HMS Chatham and Royal Navy Engineers have been deployed into the disaster zone. For more details, visit the MOD Operation Garron website.


And that's it. TWO ships. From the whole Navy. And what on earth are the rest of the Navy doing? The Op Garron site shows that there are also some aircraft involved, but surely the Royal Navy can deploy more muscle than this? Or have we offered and been turned down?

According to Navy News :
Two British ships are involved in the relief effort following the Asian tsunami tragedy, and other ships are on notice to join in if needed.

But I keep reading that there are still unburied bodies in the disaster zone. And homes ruined. And clean water is lacking. Why are these ships not needed?