Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves! Well, once upon a time, it did. But today, Britain is far from the world’s most powerful navy.
In a list of ten of the largest navies in the world, the UK isn’t even close to the top. According to Wisevoter, the UK has the forty-third most warships on the planet, coming in beneath Denmark, the UAE, the Philippines and Myanmar. In total, the Royal Navy has access to 73 warships – 97 less than landlocked Bolivia.
This shocking statistic comes despite British military spending reaching just over £60bn in 2023 – the sixth highest in the world.
When it comes to naval submarines, Britain does much better. With ten military subs, the UK sits 11th in the world. Although many of Downing Street’s enemies, such as China and Russia, have significantly more – 59 and 49 respectively.
Britain’s best ranking with respect to hardware is in naval aircraft. In total, the Royal Navy has 98 aircraft to deploy. However, once again this is significantly less than the number of naval places Beijing and Moscow have at their disposal – 473 and 310 respectively.
The good news for Britain is that its closest allies have very well-equipped navies. The United States boasts the fourth most warships, 484; the second most submarines, 67; comfortably the most naval aircrafts, 2,646; and it spends an eye-watering £700bn on its military.
One of the more surprising naval powers in NATO is Italy. The Italians have the 7th most warships, 313; the joint 12th most submarines, 8; and the 8th most naval aircraft, 104. The Mediterranean country spends the 12th most of any military power in the world at more than £26bn.
