THE Navy is facing a recruitment crisis — after hiring less than half of the new joiners it requires.
Just 120 Royal Marines and 250 sailors were enlisted in the three months to July.
The latest figures leave Top Brass on track to recruit less than 1,500 people in the current financial year — with the average annual total being around 3,000.
It follows warnings from First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key that the service is waging a “war for talent”.
He vowed to overhaul Navy careers to attract “the best and brightest talent”.
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But Sir Ben also warned youngsters were wary of joining for fear of losing their mobile phones.
And he said parents offering their kids career advice often do not realise they can be “accountants or lawyers or doctors” in the Royal Navy.
He added: “We are effectively in a war for talent in this country — there is no great secret in that.”
Applications to join the service surged during the Covid pandemic, forcing the Navy to use a third base to start training the recruits.
But the number of people joining all three Armed Forces — Army, Navy and RAF — plunged by 16 per cent in the year to July.
And the number of people leaving increased — meaning, overall, that each of the three services shrank by four per cent
Last night, a spokesman for the Royal Navy said: “Tackling our recruitment challenge is a top priority.”
They added “recruitment volumes” varied throughout the year and the Navy is working “to improve the career route for our people”.