Warship deployed to Libya had only two missile rounds

HMS Westminster was only armed with four missiles – which are fired in pairs – during the recent Nato mission.

The type-23 frigate can carry 32 Seawolf and eight Harpoon missiles.

Penny Mordaunt, MP for Portsmouth North and HMS Westminster’s home port, said: “I’m absolutely convinced and so are other warfare officers I’ve spoken to that Westminster would have been in danger. We’ve hollowed out the capability to a dangerous level.”

Retired Rear Admiral Chris Parry said: “This is yet another example of the incoherence of last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review.

“What if the Government’s bluff had been called? What would the Ministry of Defence be saying if Westminster had been hit by something? They took a big risk.”

Ursula Brennan, the MoD’s permanent under secretary of state, said: “The assessment of the risk to HMS Westminster would have taken into account the other capabilities that we had in terms of submarines, aircraft and surveillance and so on and said ‘in those circumstances, do we think that is a risk worth taking?’ That is a judgment our operations people take on a daily basis.”

Earlier this month, it emerged that the UK had been left for a month without a single warship assigned to home protection. The Royal Navy normally provides at least a frigate or destroyer to be ready for emergencies, including terrorist attacks in UK waters.