I read an interesting article (mainstream media) about the increasing length of V boat patrols, 6 months plus (in the days of the R boats it was 3 months), caused by availability of hulls, maintenance issues, spares availability, dry dock provision, etc. All stems from short sighted money saving decisions made years ago, which of course have big long term impacts (How often have we seen this).
Anyway, the article also discussed impact on morale, recruitment, retention of submariners - all of which were not good, especially in high tech specialist trades. An issue the RN seems to have little ability to tackle in the short term.
Last edited by Biggus; 24th Sep 2023 at 09:36.