The Myth:: Westminster IS having Warships Built Abroad

The Truth:: No, they're not. They had Auxiliaries built abroad.

A claim thats often made is that Westminster say that no UK warships are built abroad, but they actually are.

This is an outright lie.

Our latest Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, the Tide Class Tankers, were built in South Korea.

These are not complex warships. The clue is in the name "Auxiliaries"

Auxiliaries are support ships that carry food, fuel, ammunition, and other stores needed by our warships whilst at sea. They are government owned, and civilian crewed. They do have Royal Navy personnel onboard, but as supernumeraries, not ships crew. They operate under the Blue Ensign, not the White Ensign the Royal Navy sail under.

When the contract was put out to tender, no UK yards submitted even a note of interest, let alone an actual tender, so the contract went to South Korea.

The next batch, the Fleet Solids Support Vessels, are expected to be built here in the UK.

The cybernats are screaming blue murder that because they're warships, they should be built in Scotland.

The first problem with that wild claim is, they're not complex warships.

The second problem with that is, They can't be built in Scotland.

BAE Systems have already said they are not bidding, as they're already at capacity with the Type 26 Frigate program, and will be until the mid 2030s. Babcock in Rosyth will also be at capacity until around the same time.