And the last Swiftsures were decommissioned in 2010, so went down to 7. The first 3 Trafalgar were retired in 2009, 2010 and 2014. the first Astutes’ commissioned in 2010, 2013 and 2016 - so we dipped down to 5 in the 2010s.
Lets not get nostalgic, and depressed, about how many subs, frigates, carriers, squadrons and army troops and brigades we had in the 1980-1990s…