'What will we replace them with?': Trio of Portsmouth Royal Navy ships face being axed amid shrinking fleet

Three Royal Navy ships based in Portsmouth face being axed despite being regularly deployed on operations.

The Sun reports that HMS Tyne, HMS Severn and HMS Mersey are expected to be retired. These vessels, Batch 1 of the River-class offshore patrol vessels, are regularly deployed to monitor the activities of Russian ships and protect British waters.

A military source told the national publication that the vessels will be removed before replacements are put in place. “This is madness,” they said. “These offshore patrol ships are massively busy, hugely useful, out there chasing the Russians every day. They are defending the UK because we haven’t got enough frigates. What will we replace them with?”

HMS Severn and Mersey were recently involved in a major operation to stalk two Russian Navy warships and two sanctioned cargo ships through the North Sea and English Channel - including the replenishment vessel Akademik. Royal Navy activations to monitor Kremlin activity is up 25 per cent across the first eight months of the year compared to 2025.

The three ships have been part of the fleet since 2003 and have been used regularly since. Minister for defence readiness and industry, Luke Pollard, issued a statement last October which confirmed that the River-class vessels have an end of service date of 2028.

The Labour MP for Sutton and Devonport previously said: “The Royal Navy constantly reviews out-of-service dates to achieve maximum availability of its platforms for operational tasking. For operational security reasons, the Royal Navy does not release the out-of-service dates of individual platforms.

“The class out-of-service date for OPV Batch 1 is 2028. The Royal Navy continues to assess its future capability requirements in accordance with the Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Investment Plan.”

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The Defence Investment Plan set aside £200m for patrol vessels. Concerns have been raised about the shrinking size of the fleet, with advanced modern replacements not being built fast enough to plug the gaps.

Responding to a question from Reform UK MP Andrew Rosindell, Mr Pollard confirmed that 33 Royal Navy ships have been take out of service since 2010. Of that number, eight of them have been sold, 15 recycled and 10 pending disposal.

“As vessels may be withdrawn from service in one year and sold or scrapped in a later year, these categories are not mutually exclusive, and the figures should not be aggregated,” he added. “As set out in the Defence Investment Plan, this government is investing in new frigates, amphibious ships, new submarines and new standardised vessels alongside a new Hybrid Navy of uncrewed and autonomous systems to increase our Navy’s lethality and deterrence.”