50: The Royal Navy - Its Decline and Struggle to Survive Pt2

Welcome to the second part of a Warships Pod special, with returning guest Lee Pilgrim and host Iain Ballantyne diving into the state of the Royal Navy today, its decline since the 1990s and where next.

Also in this episode, Iain and Lee consider the failure of strategic vision in the UK when it comes to its navy. They ask what can be learned from a crucial oceanic struggle during the Second World War.

The future of Britannia Royal Naval College (BRBC) Dartmouth – the officers’ training academy of the Royal Navy - is discussed along with a shake-up in training for both officers and ratings.

Among other topics tackled is a decision to commit a British destroyer to operations East of Suez during a time of war between the USA, Israel and Iran.

*For more on navies and their activities worldwide, get the magazine! Web site http://bit.ly/wifrmag Also, follow it on X @WarshipsIFR Facebook @WarshipsIFR and Warships IFR TV on YouTube @warshipsifrtv3668

The June 2026 edition of Warships IFR is now out and among its features are: the Black Sea mine menace; Australia’s naval boost; the Royal Navy countering Russian intrusions into seas off the UK; the Iran War and its global consequences; the second part of a series on the ill-fated Dardanelles-Gallipoli campaign on WW1.

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•Lee Pilgrim has worked in defence and intelligence - for government and industry - for over 30 years, in the UK and overseas, so has some useful insights into a broad spectrum of topics. His social media posts on X are well worth a read, so follow him on there @MtarfaL He has also written numerous articles for Warships IFR and contributed to its ‘Guide to the Royal Navy 2026’.

•Iain Ballantyne is the founding and current Editor of ‘Warships IFR’ magazine (first published in 1998) along with its ‘Guide to the Royal Navy’ (since 2003) and ‘Guide to the US Navy’ (since 2018). Iain is also author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’ (Orion) and ‘The Deadly Trade’ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), both about submarine warfare, plus ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron’ and ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ (both published by Canelo). In 2017 Iain was awarded a Fellowship by the British Maritime Foundation, which promotes awareness of the United Kingdom’s dependence on the sea and seafarers.
Visit his web site Bismarckbattle.com and follow him on
X @IBallantyn
Instagram.com/iballantyn
Bluesky iainballantyne.bsky.social