Germany steps in to fill gap left by UK navy

The German frigate Sachsen will take over as the flagship of a NATO mission in the North Atlantic, replacing Britain’s HMS Dragon.

LONDON — The deployment of a German ship to the North Atlantic has laid bare the strains felt by Britain’s Royal Navy, which have become increasingly visible since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

The German frigate Sachsen will take over as the flagship of a NATO mission in the North Atlantic, replacing Britain’s HMS Dragon, one of Britain's six Type 45 destroyers, which has been sent to the Mediterranean to help defend Cyprus.

British personnel will remain in command of the task force, but will carry out their duties from the German vessel, according to two people familiar with the arrangement.

HMS Dragon’s redirection to the Mediterranean was the target of fierce criticism in the U.K., since it was not ordered to leave until 36 hours after a drone struck an RAF base in Cyprus and took several weeks to reach its destination.

The deployment of the Type 45 has left the U.K. with only one other destroyerin service, which is committed to a separate Carrier Strike Group mission in the High North.

HMS Dragon's replacement with a German ship calls fresh attention to the state of Britain’s shrunken maritime forces as it sends assets to the Mediterranean, while trying to meet its NATO obligations in the Atlantic and High North.

Former First Sea Lord Alan West told POLITICO the latest development was "symptomatic of the terrible state the Navy is in due to years of salami slicing."

Tan Dhesi, chair of the U.K. parliament's defense committee, said: “The inability of the UK to be able to deploy a vessel for this long-known NATO commitment is just a further example serving to underscore the Defence Committee’s concerns regarding the UK’s lack of mass and capabilities.”

Ben Obese-Jecty, a Conservative MP and former serviceman, said: “It is a national embarrassment that the Royal Navy has run out of ships.”