TNAG-0538-FCO40-633-Strength-of-garrison-in-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 118

CONFIDENTIAL

3RD DRAFT

6.

ROYAL NAVY GENERAL PURPOSE COMBAT FORCES

The NATO Alliance must continue to face the formidable and

increasing threat posed by the maritime forces of the Warsaw Pact.

All major ships and the amphibious forces of the Royal Navy are

earmarked for assignment to NATO. The great majority operates in

the NATO area in peacetime but our maritime forces deploy world-

wide as allied or national interests require.

The NATO Area

7. In the key NATO areas of the Eastern Atlantic and Channel

Commands, Britain provides the major part of the Alliance's readily

available maritime forces, A destroyer or helicopter-carrying

frigate is allocated full time as the United Kingdom's contribution

to the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic and one mine counter-

measures vessel is allocated full time to NATO's Standing Naval

Force Channel. Throughout the last year, the Royal Navy has

operationally deployed in these areas an average of forty ships

of destroyer and frigate size or above, twenty submarines and fifty

smaller ships, supported by Royal Fleet Auxiliaries.

8. A guided-missile destroyer and two frigates, which are earmarked

for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), are currently

One of the frigates is

stationed in the Mediterranean area.

Other destroyers, frigates,

deployed in the vicinity of Gibraltar.

submarines and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries have been deployed periodi-

cally to the Mediterranean.

The Royal Navy contributes to the

NATO Naval On Call Force Mediterranean and a Royal Marines Commando

Group is deployed in Malta (although the majority of the Group is

serving with UN forces in Cyprus until April 1975). These elements are

IIT

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CONFIDENTIAL