Royal Navy: Tory MP asks government about fictional ship HMS Devonshire from James Bond in bizarre blunder

In a parliamentary written question, Conservative MP James Cartlidge asked about the cost of repairing a non-existent vessel HMS Devonshire. The name will be familiar to fans of the films based on the books by Ian Fleming.

The warship was sunk during the film Tomorrow Never Dies, the 1997 feature where Pierce Brosnan starred as 007. The previous HMS Devonshire was built in the 1960s, and sunk for target practice in the Atlantic in 1984.

Mr Cartlidge asked defence secretary John Healey: “To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of repairing the structural damage to HMS Devonshire.” Minister for defence procurement, Maria Eagle, replied: “There is no ship of the name HMS Devonshire currently in service with the Royal Navy.”

The Sun reported that the MP for South Suffolk meant to ask about HMS Northumberland, a Type 23 Duke-class frigate which Mr Healey announced would be decommissioned from the fleet in November last year. The defence secretary said the warship would be too uneconomical to repair, a sentiment which was echoed by Lieutenant General Sir Robert Magowan KCB CBE.

He previously said: “In terms of the six retirements, the secretary of state outlined to the house the implications of that. Three of those involved vessels that were no longer seaworthy, so we were spending money against capabilities that were never going to be used operationally. There was a pretty strong case with regards to those three classes of ship.”

Mr Cartlidge joked that he intentionally got the two ships confused to see if the MoD was using AI instead of politicians to answer submitted questions. He told the national publication: “I’m pleased to say they passed the test on this occasion.” Mr Cartlidge challenged Mr Healey yesterday in parliament on when the Strategic Defence Review will be published, whether it will be in the Spring or Summer. Mr Healey said no changes have been made, slating the Tory MP for “dancing on the head of a pin”.