...[this] isn't Belfasts fault but the RN's one ship keeper to maintain her since her decommission and very little funding...
While I agree that we as a Nation should keep items of historical significance for our future generations (including HMS Caroline) but I don't agree with you passing the blame to the RN. I have highlighted your use of the word "decommission" because, in effect, once decommissioned, a vessel is of no further military use or but becomes a commercial interest. What would be a better use of the MOD funds? Using limited resources to maintain and operate existing warships or provide funding to one that has not seen operational service for several decades? Yes, her many records and honours are admirable but there are other means of securing her future, other than expecting the RN to maintain an interest in her.
As an aside, it does bother me to hear (on various social media networks) ex-matelots who moan about:
a. The decaying state of former warships, or
b. The tiny number of current warships alongside in Pompey/Guzz.
With regards to the former, I refer to my previous point - once a vessel is decommissioned, it is no longer the ship you or I served on; it becomes a piece of rusting metal. The memories of time served on board are based on the Ship's Company you lived and worked with, not the vessel itself. Yes, it is tragic to see pictures of HMS NONSUCH being cut up by scrap dealers on an Indian beach somewhere but it is worth more in that capacity than sitting like a ghost in the upper harbour somewhere.
As to the second point, the older ex-servicemen have to accept that today's Fleet is smaller (but no less efficient). One Type 45 destroyer can do the tactical work of many smaller, older ships, so there is no longer a need to have several ships in a Squadron. Additionally, if a dockyard is empty then surely that's a good thing? Warships are designed to do a maritime job, not tied up alongside three abreast at FLJ. The modern RN has changed and is moving forward (too slowly for some but at least it's in the right direction). The sooner some of the older generations accept this, the better.
