Royal Navy - Ship Sold 2002-2007

	Type	Country	Service cost	Original cost (£)	Sale price (£)
2002-03
HMS Beagle	Bulldog Class Hydrographical Survey Ship	⁽¹⁾—	⁽²⁾—	⁽³⁾53 million	750,000

HMS London	T22 Frigate	Romania	⁽²⁾—	⁽⁴⁾156million	116 million
HMS Coventry				⁽⁴⁾147 million

HMS Shetland	Island Class Offshore Patrol Vehicles	Bangladesh	⁽²⁾—	⁽³⁾53 million each	8 million
HMS Aldernay
HMS Anglesey
HMS Lindisfarne
HMS Guernsey

HMS Sheffield	Type 22 Frigate	Chile	⁽²⁾—	⁽⁴⁾151 million	27 million

2003-04
HMS Unseen	Upholder Class Submarine	Canada	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁶⁾—
HMS Scylla	Leader Class Frigate	⁽⁷⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—

2004-05
RFA Sir Geraint	Round Table Landing Ship Logistical	⁽⁸⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	⁽⁵⁾—	300,000

2005-06
HMS Marlborough	Type 23 Frigate	Chile	⁽²⁾—	⁽⁴⁾120 million	134 million
HMS Norfolk				⁽⁴⁾142 million
HMS Grafton				⁽⁴⁾79 million

2006-07
HMS Sandown	Sandown Class Mine Hunter	Estonia	⁽²⁾—	⁽³⁾53 million each	32 million
HMS Inverness
HMS Bridport
⁽¹⁾ Records not kept beyond point of sale. ⁽²⁾ This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. ⁽³⁾ Information concerning original cost is not held. Average cost has been estimated at 2007 prices and includes Government furnished equipment. ⁽⁴⁾ Original cost of vessels not held. Original build cost provided but does not include other costs such as Ministry supplied material and equipment. ⁽⁵⁾ No records held. ⁽⁶⁾ Leased to Canada in 1998, with an option to purchase, which was exercised in 2003. It is impossible to calculate exact value for this submarine as lease covered four submarines, remaining three still under lease. Total value of lease is Canadian $360 million for all four submarines. ⁽⁷⁾ Sunk as artificial reef. ⁽⁸⁾ Records not kept beyond point of sale—ultimately dismantled in Pakistan.

These figures are rounded and those in the “sale price” column reflect the total sales revenue.

It is standard practice for sales of surplus warships to foreign Governments to include a package of modernisation and regeneration work provided by industry. It is not possible to provide figures relating to industry costs or the subsequent detailed financial returns to the UK defence budget and British taxpayer, without incurring disproportionate costs. Moreover, any such figures would be commercially sensitive, and could not be released.

In many cases the only alternative to a sale of these surplus warships would have been recycling, potentially at a cost to the British taxpayer. The benefits of these sales extend beyond the capital return, as they provide a defence diplomacy impact and enhance British industrial participation. It is not possible to quantify these benefits; however, in each case, the sale represented the best available outcome.

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Royal Navy - Ship Sold 2002-2007