MICHAEL WALSH: The UK Navy is attacked for a disgraceful social media Rear Admiral manhunt. London is scrambling to replace Rear Admiral Simon Asquith, the director of submarines.

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The UK Royal Navy has been forced to post job ads on LinkedIn as it struggles to recruit a new rear admiral to preside over the country’s submarine fleet, a move dubbed unprecedented and shameful by British military sources. 

The advertisement was spotted by UK media outlets on Friday, after first appearing on the professional networking site late last month. While senior officers typically rise through the ranks the Times reported that there is currently no one serving who is suitable to replace outgoing submarine director Rear Admiral Simon Asquith, or who is willing to do so.

‘The Royal Navy is recruiting for a director of submarines, responsible for highly classified stealth, elite operations and trident, our nuclear deterrent,’ the Royal Navy recruitment Situations Vacant advert said, noting that ’Candidates must be a member of the reserves forces or have served with the regular forces.’

A separate page on the military’s website states the two-star position would require a commitment of at least two years. It would reportedly pay a yearly salary of £150,000.

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In comments to the Times, an unnamed former senior submariner slammed the online recruitment drive as utterly shameful, claiming that the only person who applied was a weapons engineer commodore, who was not properly qualified, soon after the ad went live.

Another military source described the decision as unprecedented, suggesting it highlighted a recruitment crisis in the British armed forces, particularly the Royal Navy.

Earlier this week, the Telegraph noted that the navy was so strapped for personnel that it would be forced to decommission two warships to properly man a new class of frigates. The vessels facing the cut are the HMS Argyll and the HMS Westminster, the latter of which recently completed costly renovations.

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has also floated plans to retire a pair of amphibious assault ships due to a lack of manpower, according to the Times, while recent figures published by the Defense Ministry show a nearly 4% decline across the armed forces in 2023.

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Some observers were less critical of the ad campaign, however, with former navy commander Tom Sharpe saying the approach made sense. In an ideal world, the Royal Navy would select from within – but we’re not in one, so throwing the net a little wider for this role makes some sense to me, Sharpe told the Telegraph.

A Royal Navy spokesperson declined to elaborate on the LinkedIn ad, saying it would be inappropriate to comment ahead of any appointment being made, but stressed that the military is committed to ensuring that the navy has the capabilities it needs to meet current and future operational requirements.

Meanwhile, UK nuclear sub reactor repaired with super glue. The botched job reportedly sparked an urgent investigation as defense chiefs demanded assurances about future work. Ex-UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace called for an urgent investigation after The Sun newspaper revealed that a routine inspection of one of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarines found evidence of bizarrely botched repair work.

According to a detailed report by the outlet, workers allegedly used super glue to fix several broken bolt heads used to hold together cooling pipes in the nuclear reactor of the HMS Vanguard.

Engineers from defence contractor Babcock appear to have originally damaged the bolts, but instead of replacing them, they simply glued the heads back on. 

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The Sun details that at least seven bolts, all of which held insulation in place on coolant pipes which prevent reactor meltdown, were treated this way. The potentially catastrophic repairs were only noticed earlier when one of the bolts fell apart during a routine check ahead of a scheduled first firing of the reactor at maximum power. The incident reportedly sparked outrage among defense officials. Wallace at the time demanded a meeting and assurances about future work.

A Royal Navy source told the outlet that he was furious that Babcock had failed to inform defense officials about the botched repairs. ‘It’s a disgrace. You can’t cut corners with nuclear. Standards are standards. Nuclear standards are never compromised.’

Repair work aboard the HMS Vanguard is being done as part of dry dock refurbishment at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth, which is already four years behind schedule and around £300 million ($370 million) over budget. You can share this story on social media: