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Royal Navy

January 16, 2023

"Senior Service" redirects here. For other uses, see Royal Navy (disambiguation) and Senior Service (disambiguation).

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.

Royal Navy
Founded1546; 477 years ago (1546)[1]
Country
TypeNavy
RoleNaval warfare
Size
Part ofHis Majesty's Naval Service
Naval Staff OfficesWhitehall, London, United Kingdom
Nickname(s)Senior Service
Motto(s)"Si vis pacem, para bellum" (Latin)
(If you wish for peace, prepare for war)
Colours  Red
  White
MarchQuick – "Heart of Oak" Play (help·info)
Slow – Westering Home (de facto)
Fleet
Websitewww.royalnavy.mod.uk
Commanders
Commander-in-ChiefKing Charles III
Lord High AdmiralVacant
First Sea LordAdmiral Sir Ben Key
Second Sea LordVice Admiral Martin Connell
Fleet CommanderVice Admiral Andrew Burns
Warrant Officer to the Royal NavyWarrant Officer 1 Carl Steedman
Insignia
White Ensign[nb 3]
Naval jack[nb 4]
Pennant
Aircraft flown
Attack
Fighter
Patrol
Reconnaissance
Trainer
Transport

From the middle decades of the 17th century, and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century, it was the world's most powerful navy until the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superiority globally. Owing to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, to refer to it as "the Royal Navy" without qualification. Following World War I, it was significantly reduced in size,[7] although at the onset of World War II it was still the world's largest. During the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines and mostly active in the GIUK gap. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, its focus has returned to expeditionary operations around the world and it remains one of the world's foremost blue-water navies.[8][9][10]

The Royal Navy maintains a fleet of technologically sophisticated ships, submarines, and aircraft, including 2 aircraft carriers, 2 amphibious transport docks, 4 ballistic missile submarines (which maintain the nuclear deterrent), 6 nuclear fleet submarines, 6 guided missile destroyers, 12 frigates, 9 mine-countermeasure vessels and 26 patrol vessels. As of October 2022, there are 72 operational commissioned ships (including submarines as well as one historic ship, HMS Victory) in the Royal Navy, plus 11 ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA); there are also five Merchant Navy ships available to the RFA under a private finance initiative. The RFA replenishes Royal Navy warships at sea, and augments the Royal Navy's amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay-class landing ship vessels. It also works as a force multiplier for the Royal Navy, often doing patrols that frigates used to do.

The Royal Navy is part of His Majesty's Naval Service, which also includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord who is an admiral and member of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom. The Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The Royal Navy operates from three bases in Britain where commissioned ships and submarines are based: Portsmouth, Clyde and Devonport, the last being the largest operational naval base in Western Europe, as well as two naval air stations, RNAS Yeovilton and RNAS Culdrose where maritime aircraft are based.

Role

As the seaborne branch of HM Armed Forces, the RN has various roles. As it stands today, the RN has stated its six major roles as detailed below in umbrella terms.[11]

  • Preventing Conflict – On a global and regional level
  • Providing Security At Sea – To ensure the stability of international trade at sea
  • International Partnerships – To help cement the relationship with the United Kingdom's allies (such as NATO)
  • Maintaining a Readiness To Fight – To protect the United Kingdom's interests across the globe
  • Protecting the Economy – To safeguard vital trade routes to guarantee the United Kingdom's and its allies' economic prosperity at sea
  • Providing Humanitarian Aid – To deliver a fast and effective response to global catastrophes

History

Main articles: History of the Royal Navy (before 1707), History of the Royal Navy (after 1707), and Royal Scots Navy

The English Royal Navy was formally founded in 1546 by Henry VIII[12] though the Kingdom of England had possessed less-organised naval forces for centuries prior to this.[13]

The Royal Scots Navy (or Old Scots Navy) had its origins in the Middle Ages until its merger with the English Royal Navy per the Acts of Union 1707.[14]

Earlier fleets

During much of the medieval period, fleets or "king's ships" were often established or gathered for specific campaigns or actions, and these would disperse afterwards. These were generally merchant ships enlisted into service. Unlike some European states, England did not maintain a small permanent core of warships in peacetime. England's naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilization of fleets when war broke out was slow.[15] Control of the sea only became critical to Anglo-Saxon kings in the 10th century.[16] In the 11th century, Aethelred II had an especially large fleet built by a national levy.[17] During the period of Danish rule in the 11th century, the authorities maintained a standing fleet by taxation, and this continued for a time under Edward the Confessor, who frequently commanded fleets in person.[18] After the Norman Conquest, English naval power waned and England suffered naval raids from the Vikings.[19] In 1069, this allowed for the invasion and ravaging of England by Jarl Osborn (brother of King Svein Estridsson) and his sons.[20]

The lack of an organised navy came to a head during the First Barons' War, in which Prince Louis of France invaded England in support of northern barons. With King John unable to organise a navy, this meant the French landed at Sandwich unopposed in April 1216. John's flight to Winchester and his death later that year left the Earl of Pembroke as regent, and he was able to marshal ships to fight the French in the Battle of Sandwich in 1217 – one of the first major English battles at sea.[21] The outbreak of the Hundred Years War emphasised the need for an English fleet. French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340.[22] England's naval forces could not prevent frequent raids on the south-coast ports by the French and their allies. Such raids halted only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V.[23] A Scottish fleet existed by the reign of William the Lion.[24] In the early 13th century there was a resurgence of Viking naval power in the region. The Vikings clashed with Scotland over control of the isles[25] though Alexander III was ultimately successful in asserting Scottish control.[26] The Scottish fleet was of particular import in repulsing English forces in the early 14th century.[27]

 
A late 16th-century painting of the Spanish Armada in battle with English warships

Age of Sail

A standing "Navy Royal",[12] with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII.[28] Under Elizabeth I, England became involved in a war with Spain, which saw privately owned vessels combining with the Queen's ships in highly profitable raids against Spanish commerce and colonies.[29] The Royal Navy was then used in 1588 to repulse the Spanish Armada, but the English Armada was lost the next year. In 1603, the Union of the Crowns created a personal union between England and Scotland. While the two remained distinct sovereign states for a further century, the two navies increasingly fought as a single force. During the early 17th century, England's relative naval power deteriorated until Charles I undertook a major programme of shipbuilding. His methods of financing the fleet contributed to the outbreak of the English Civil War, and the abolition of the monarchy.[30]

The Commonwealth of England replaced many names and symbols in the new Commonwealth Navy, associated with royalty and the high church, and expanded it to become the most powerful in the world.[31][32] The fleet was quickly tested in the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654) and the Anglo-Spanish War (1654-1660), which saw the conquest of Jamaica and successful attacks on Spanish treasure fleets. The 1660 Restoration saw Charles II rename the Royal Navy again, and started use of the prefix HMS. The Navy remained a national institution and not a possession of the Crown as it had been before.[33] Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, England joined the War of the Grand Alliance which marked the end of France's brief pre-eminence at sea and the beginning of an enduring British supremacy.[34]

 
HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, is still a commissioned Royal Navy ship, although she is now permanently kept in dry-dock

In 1707, the Scottish navy was united with the English Royal Navy. On Scottish men-of-war, the cross of St Andrew was replaced with the Union Jack. On English ships, the red, white, or blue ensigns had the St George's Cross of England removed from the canton, and the combined crosses of the Union flag put in its place.[35] Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Royal Navy was the largest maritime force in the world,[36] maintaining superiority in financing, tactics, training, organisation, social cohesion, hygiene, logistical support and warship design.[37] The peace settlement following the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1714) granted Britain Gibraltar and Menorca, providing the Navy with Mediterranean bases. The expansion of the Royal Navy would encourage the British colonization of the Americas, with British (North) America becoming a vital source of timber for the Royal Navy.[38] There was a defeat during the frustrated siege of Cartagena de Indias in 1741. A new French attempt to invade Britain was thwarted by the defeat of their escort fleet in the extraordinary Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, fought in dangerous conditions.[39] In 1762, the resumption of hostilities with Spain led to the British capture of Manila and of Havana, along with a Spanish fleet sheltering there.[40] British naval supremacy could however be challenged still in this period by coalitions of other nations, as seen in the American War of Independence. The United States was allied to France, and the Netherlands and Spain were also at war with Britain. In the Battle of the Chesapeake, the British fleet failed to lift the French blockade, resulting in the surrender of an entire British army at Yorktown.[41]

The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793–1801, 1803–1814 & 1815) saw the Royal Navy reach a peak of efficiency, dominating the navies of all Britain's adversaries, which spent most of the war blockaded in port. Under Lord Nelson, the navy defeated the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar (1805).[42] Ships of the line and even frigates, as well as manpower, were prioritised for the naval war in Europe, however, leaving only smaller vessels on the North America Station and other less active stations, and a heavy reliance upon impressed labour. This would result in problems countering large, well-armed United States Navy frigates which outgunned Royal Naval vessels in single-opponent actions, as well as United States privateers, when the American War of 1812 broke out concurrent with the war against Napoleonic France and its allies. The Royal Navy still enjoyed a numerical advantage over the former colonists on the Atlantic, blockading the Atlantic seaboard of the United States throughout the war and carrying out (with Royal Marines, Colonial Marines, British Army, and Board of Ordnance military corps units) various amphibious operations, most notably the Chesapeake campaign. On the Great Lakes, however, the United States Navy established an advantage.[43]

 
The Battle of Trafalgar, depicted here in its opening phase

Between 1815 and 1914, the Navy saw little serious action, owing to the absence of any opponent strong enough to challenge its dominance, though it did not suffer the drastic cutbacks the various military forces underwent in the period of economic austerity that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the American War of 1812 (when the British Army and the Board of Ordnance military corps were cutback, weakening garrisons around the Empire, the Militia became a paper tiger, and the Volunteer Force and Fencible units disbanded, though the Yeomanry was maintained as a back-up to the police). Britain relied, throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, on imperial fortress colonies (originally Bermuda, Gibraltar, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Malta, though military control on Nova Scotia passed to the new dominion government after the 1867 Confederation of Canada and naval control of the Halifax Yard was transferred to the new Royal Canadian Navy in 1905) as bases for naval squadrons with stores and dockyard facilities. These allowed control not only of the Atlantic, but it was presumed also of the other oceans. Prior to the 1920s, it was presumed that the only navies that could challenge the Royal Navy belonged to nations on the Atlantic ocean or its connected seas. Britain would rely on Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea, to project power to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean via the Suez Canal after its completion in 1869 and relying on amity and common interests between Britain and the United States during and after the First World War, on Bermuda (and Halifax) to project power in North America, and later North America and the West Indies.[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] During this period, naval warfare underwent a comprehensive transformation, brought about by steam propulsion, metal ship construction, and explosive munitions. Despite having to completely replace its war fleet, the Navy managed to maintain its overwhelming advantage over all potential rivals. Owing to British leadership in the Industrial Revolution, the country enjoyed unparalleled shipbuilding capacity and financial resources, which ensured that no rival could take advantage of these revolutionary changes to negate the British advantage in ship numbers.[54] In 1889, Parliament passed the Naval Defence Act, which formally adopted the 'two-power standard', which stipulated that the Royal Navy should maintain a number of battleships at least equal to the combined strength of the next two largest navies.[55] The end of the 19th century saw structural changes and older vessels were scrapped or placed into reserve, making funds and manpower available for newer ships. The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 rendered all existing battleships obsolete.[56] The transition at this time from coal-fired to petrol-powered ships would encourage Britain to colonize former Ottoman territories in the Middle East, especially Iraq.[57]

Exploration

'Ambition leads me ... farther than any other man has been before me.'

–Captain James Cook[58]

The Royal Navy played an historic role in several great global explorations of science and discovery.[59] Beginning in the 18th century many great voyages were commissioned often in co-operation with the Royal Society, such as the Northwest Passage expedition of 1741. James Cook led three great voyages, with goals such as discovering Terra Australis, observing the Transit of Venus and searching for the elusive North-West Passage, these voyages are considered to have contributed to world knowledge and science.[60]

 
The routes of Captain James Cook's three voyages.

In the late 18th century, during a four year voyage Captain George Vancouver made detailed maps of the Western Coastline of North America. In the 19th century Charles Darwin made further contributions to science during the second voyage of HMS Beagle.[61] The Ross expedition to the Antarctic made several important discoveries in biology and zoology.[62] Several of the Royal Navy's voyages ended in disaster such as those of Franklin and Scott.[63]

World Wars

During the First World War, the Royal Navy's strength was mostly deployed at home in the Grand Fleet, confronting the German High Seas Fleet across the North Sea. Several inconclusive clashes took place between them, chiefly the Battle of Jutland in 1916.[64] The British fighting advantage proved insurmountable, leading the High Seas Fleet to abandon any attempt to challenge British dominance.[65] For its part, the Royal Navy under John Jellicoe also tried to avoid combat and remained in port at Scapa Flow for much of the war.[66] This was contrary to widespread prewar expectations that in the event of a Continental conflict Britain would primarily provide naval support to the Entente Powers while sending at most only a small ground army. Nevertheless, the Royal Navy played an important role in securing the British Isles and the English Channel, notably ferrying the entire British Expeditionary Force to the Western Front without the loss of a single life at the beginning of the war.[67]

 
Heavy cruiser HMS York berthed in Admiralty Floating Dock No. 1 at the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, 1934.

At the end of the war, the Royal Navy remained by far the world's most powerful navy. It was larger than the U.S. Navy and French Navy combined, and over twice as large as the Imperial Japanese Navy and Royal Italian Navy combined. Its former primary competitor the Imperial German Navy was destroyed at the end of the war.[68] In the inter-war period, the Royal Navy was stripped of much of its power. The Washington and London Naval Treaties imposed the scrapping of some capital ships and limitations on new construction.[69]

The lack of an Imperial fortress in the region of Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean was always to be a weakness throughout the nineteenth century as the former North American colonies that had become the United States of America had multiplied towards the Pacific coast of North America, and the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire both had ports on the Pacific and had begun building large, modern fleets which went to war with each other in 1905. Britain reliance on Malta, via the Suez Canal, as the nearest Imperial fortress was improved (relying on amity and common interests that developed between Britain and the United States during and after the First World War), by the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914), allowing the cruisers based in Bermuda to more easily and rapidly reach the eastern Pacific Ocean (after the war, the Royal Navy's Bermuda-based North America and West Indies Station was consequently re-designated the America and West Indies station, including a South American division). However, the rising power and increasing belligerence of the Japanese Empire after the First World War would result in the construction of the Singapore Naval Base, which was completed in 1938, less than four years before hostilities with Japan did commence during the Second World War. In 1932, the Invergordon Mutiny took place in the Atlantic Fleet over the National Government's proposed 25% pay cut, which was eventually reduced to 10%.[70] International tensions increased in the mid-1930s and the re-armament of the Royal Navy was well under way by 1938. In addition to new construction, several existing old battleships, battlecruisers and heavy cruisers were reconstructed, and anti-aircraft weaponry reinforced, while new technologies, such as ASDIC, Huff-Duff and hydrophones, were developed.[71]

At the start of World War II in 1939, the Royal Navy was still the largest in the world, with over 1,400 vessels.[72][73] The Royal Navy provided critical cover during Operation Dynamo, the British evacuations from Dunkirk, and as the ultimate deterrent to a German invasion of Britain during the following four months. The Luftwaffe under Hermann Göring attempted to gain air supremacy over southern England in the Battle of Britain in order to neutralize the Home Fleet, but faced stiff resistance from the Royal Air Force.[74] The Luftwaffe bombing offensive during the Kanalkampf phase of the battle targeted naval convoys and bases in order to lure large concentrations of RAF fighters into attrition warfare.[75] At Taranto, Admiral Cunningham commanded a fleet that launched the first all-aircraft naval attack in history. The Royal Navy suffered heavy losses in the first two years of the war. Over 3,000 people were lost when the converted troopship Lancastria was sunk in June 1940, the greatest maritime disaster in Britain's history.[76] The Navy's most critical struggle was the Battle of the Atlantic defending Britain's vital North American commercial supply lines against U-boat attack. A traditional convoy system was instituted from the start of the war, but German submarine tactics, based on group attacks by "wolf-packs", were much more effective than in the previous war, and the threat remained serious for well over three years.[77]

Since 1945

After the Second World War, the decline of the British Empire and the economic hardships in Britain forced the reduction in the size and capability of the Royal Navy. The United States Navy instead took on the role of global naval power. Governments since have faced increasing budgetary pressures, partly due to the increasing cost of weapons systems.[78] In 1981, Defence Secretary John Nott had advocated and initiated a series of cutbacks to the Navy.[79] The Falklands War however proved a need for the Royal Navy to regain an expeditionary and littoral capability which, with its resources and structure at the time, would prove difficult. At the beginning of the 1980s, the Royal Navy was a force focused on blue-water anti-submarine warfare. Its purpose was to search for and destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic, and to operate the nuclear deterrent submarine force. The navy received its first nuclear weapons with the introduction of the first of the Resolution-class submarines armed with the Polaris missile.[80]

Post-Cold War

Following the conclusion of the Cold War, the Royal Navy began to experience a gradual decline in its fleet size in accordance with the changed strategic environment it operated in. While new and more capable ships are continually brought into service, such as the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, Astute-class submarines, and Type 45 destroyers, the total number of ships and submarines operated has continued to steadily reduce. This has caused considerable debate about the size of the Royal Navy, with a 2013 report finding that the current RN was already too small, and that Britain would have to depend on her allies if her territories were attacked.[81] The financial costs attached to nuclear deterrence have become an increasingly significant issue for the navy.[82]

Royal Navy today

See also: Future of the Royal Navy

Personnel

 
Britannia Royal Naval College

HMS Raleigh at Torpoint, Cornwall, is the basic training facility for newly enlisted ratings. Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment for the navy, located at Dartmouth, Devon. Personnel are divided into a warfare branch, which includes Warfare Officers (previously named seamen officers) and Naval Aviators,[83] as well other branches including the Royal Naval Engineers, Royal Navy Medical Branch, and Logistics Officers (previously named Supply Officers). Present-day officers and ratings have several different uniforms; some are designed to be worn aboard ship, others ashore or in ceremonial duties. Women began to join the Royal Navy in 1917 with the formation of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), which was disbanded after the end of the First World War in 1919. It was revived in 1939, and the WRNS continued until disbandment in 1993, as a result of the decision to fully integrate women into the structures of the Royal Navy. Women now serve in all sections of the Royal Navy including the Royal Marines.[84]

In August 2019, the Ministry of Defence published figures showing that the Royal Navy and Royal Marines had 29,090 full-time trained personnel compared with a target of 30,600.[85]

In December 2019 the First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin, outlined a proposal to reduce the number of Rear-Admirals at Navy Command by five.[86] The fighting arms (excluding Commandant General Royal Marines) would be reduced to Commodore (1-star) rank and the surface flotillas would be combined. Training would be concentrated under the Fleet Commander.[87]

Surface fleet

See also: List of active Royal Navy ships
Main article: Royal Navy Surface Fleet
 
HMS Queen Elizabeth, a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, on sea trials in June 2017

Aircraft carriers

The Royal Navy has two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. Each carrier costs £3 billion and displaces 65,000 tonnes (64,000 long tons; 72,000 short tons).[88] The first, HMS Queen Elizabeth, commenced flight trials in 2018. Both are intended to operate the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II. Queen Elizabeth began sea trials in June 2017, was commissioned later that year, and entered service in 2020,[89] while the second, HMS Prince of Wales, began sea trials on 22 September 2019, was commissioned in December 2019 and was declared operational as of October 2021.[90][91][92][93][94] The aircraft carriers will form a central part of the UK Carrier Strike Group alongside escorts and support ships.[95]

Amphibious warfare

Amphibious warfare ships in current service include two landing platform docks (HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark). While their primary role is to conduct amphibious warfare, they have also been deployed for humanitarian aid missions.[96]

Clearance diving

The Royal Navy clearance diving unit, the Fleet Diving Squadron, was reorganised and rebranded to the Diving and Threat Exploitation Group in 2022. The group consists of five squadrons: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo.[97][98] The Royal Navy has a separate diving unit, a special forces unit, the Special Boat Service.[99]

Escort fleet

The escort fleet comprises guided missile destroyers and frigates and is the traditional workhorse of the Navy.[100] As of July 2021 there are six Type 45 destroyers and 12 Type 23 frigates in active service. Among their primary roles is to provide escort for the larger capital ships—protecting them from air, surface and subsurface threats. Other duties include undertaking the Royal Navy's standing deployments across the globe, which often consists of: counter-narcotics, anti-piracy missions and providing humanitarian aid.[96]

The Type 45 is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and the Royal Navy describe the destroyer's mission as "to shield the Fleet from air attack".[101] They are equipped with the PAAMS (also known as Sea Viper) integrated anti-aircraft warfare system which incorporates the sophisticated SAMPSON and S1850M long range radars and the Aster 15 and 30 missiles.[102]

 
HMS Kent, the Type 23 frigate designed for anti-submarine warfare

16 Type 23 frigates were delivered to the Royal Navy, with the final vessel, HMS St Albans, commissioned in June 2002. However, the 2004 Delivering Security in a Changing World review announced that three frigates would be paid off as part of a cost-cutting exercise, and these were subsequently sold to the Chilean Navy.[103] The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review announced that the remaining 13 Type 23 frigates would eventually be replaced by the Type 26 Frigate.[104] The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 reduced the procurement of Type 26 to eight with five Type 31e frigates to be procured.[105]

Mine countermeasure vessels (MCMV)

There are two classes of MCMVs in the Royal Navy: three Sandown-class minehunters and six Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels. The Hunt-class vessels combine the separate roles of the traditional minesweeper and the active minehunter in one hull. If required, the Sandown and Hunt-class vessels can take on the role of offshore patrol vessels.[106]

Offshore patrol vessels (OPV)

A fleet of eight River-class offshore patrol vessels are in service with the Royal Navy. The three Batch 1 ships of the class serve in U.K. waters in a sovereignty and fisheries protection role while the five Batch 2 ships are forward-deployed on a long-term basis to Gibraltar, the Caribbean, the Falkland Islands and the Indo-Pacific region.[107] The vessel MV Grampian Frontier is leased from Scottish-based North Star Shipping for patrol duties around the British Indian Ocean Territory. However, she is not in commission with the Royal Navy.[108]

In December 2019, the modified Batch 1 River-class vessel, HMS Clyde, was decommissioned, with the Batch 2 HMS Forth taking over duties as the Falkland Islands patrol ship.[109][110]

Ocean survey ships

HMS Protector is a dedicated Antarctic patrol ship that fulfils the nation's mandate to provide support to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).[111] HMS Scott is an ocean survey vessel and at 13,500 tonnes is one of the largest ships in the Navy. The other is the multi-role ship HMS Enterprise, which came into service in 2003. As of 2018, the newly commissioned HMS Magpie also undertakes survey duties at sea.[112] The Royal Navy also plans to commission a new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship in 2024, in part to protect undersea cables and gas pipelines.[113]

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary consists of one Fleet Solid Support Ship, six fleet tankers (two of which are maintained in reserve) and one aviation training and casualty reception vessel, which is planned for conversion into a Littoral Strike Ship.[114][115]

Three amphibious transport docks are also incorporated within its fleet. These are known as the Bay-class landing ships, of which four were introduced in 2006–2007, but one was sold to the Royal Australian Navy in 2011.[116] In November 2006, the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band described the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels as "a major uplift in the Royal Navy's war fighting capability".[117]

Other ships

On 29 July 2022, the Royal Navy christened a new experimental ship, XV Patrick Blackett, which it aims to use as a testbed for autonomous systems. Whilst the ship flies the Blue Ensign, it is crewed by Royal Navy personnel and will participate in Royal Navy and NATO exercises.[118][119]

Submarine Service

Main article: Royal Navy Submarine Service

The Submarine Service is the submarine based element of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes referred to as the "Silent Service",[120] as the submarines are generally required to operate undetected. Founded in 1901, the service made history in 1982 when, during the Falklands War, HMS Conqueror became the first nuclear-powered submarine to sink a surface ship, ARA General Belgrano. Today, all of the Royal Navy's submarines are nuclear-powered.[121]

Ballistic missile submarines (SSBN)

The Royal Navy operates four Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines displacing nearly 16,000 tonnes and equipped with Trident II missiles (armed with nuclear weapons) and heavyweight Spearfish torpedoes, with the purpose to carry out Operation Relentless, the United Kingdom's Continuous At Sea Deterrent (CASD). The UK government has committed to replace these submarines with four new Dreadnought-class submarines, which will enter service in the "early 2030s" to maintain a nuclear ballistic missile submarine fleet and the ability to launch nuclear weapons.[122][123]

Fleet submarines (SSN)

As of August 2022, six fleet submarines are in commission, one Trafalgar class and five Astute class (one of which was still working up to operational status as of August 2022[124]). Two more Astute-class fleet submarines are scheduled to enter service by the mid-2020s while the remaining Trafalgar-class boat will be withdrawn.[125]

The Trafalgar class displace approximately 5,300 tonnes when submerged and are armed with Tomahawk land-attack missiles and Spearfish torpedoes. The Astute class at 7,400 tonnes[126] are much larger and carry a larger number of Tomahawk missiles and Spearfish torpedoes. HMS Anson was the latest Astute-class boat to be commissioned.[124]

Fleet Air Arm

Main article: Fleet Air Arm
 
The F-35B aircraft are operated from the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft, it can trace its roots back to 1912 and the formation of the Royal Flying Corps. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AW-101 Merlin HC4 (in support of 3 Commando Brigade) as the Commando Helicopter Force; the AW-159 Wildcat HM2; the AW101 Merlin HM2 in the anti-submarine role; and the F-35B Lightning II in the carrier strike role.[127]

Pilots designated for rotary wing service train under No. 1 Flying Training School (1 FTS)[128] at RAF Shawbury.[129]

Royal Marines

Main article: Royal Marines
 
Royal Marines in Sangin, 2010
 
Royal Marines Band Service members beside HMS Duncan in 2010

The Royal Marines are an amphibious, specialised light infantry force of commandos, capable of deploying at short notice in support of His Majesty's Government's military and diplomatic objectives overseas.[130] The Royal Marines are organised into a highly mobile light infantry brigade (3 Commando Brigade) and 7 commando units[131] including 1 Assault Group Royal Marines, 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines and a company strength commitment to the Special Forces Support Group. The Corps operates in all environments and climates, though particular expertise and training is spent on amphibious warfare, Arctic warfare, mountain warfare, expeditionary warfare and commitment to the UK's Rapid Reaction Force. The Royal Marines are also the primary source of personnel for the Special Boat Service (SBS), the Royal Navy's contribution to the United Kingdom Special Forces.[132]

The Corps includes the Royal Marines Band Service, the musical wing of the Royal Navy.

The Royal Marines have seen action in a number of wars, often fighting beside the British Army; including in the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, World War I and World War II. In recent times, the Corps has been deployed in expeditionary warfare roles, such as the Falklands War, the Gulf War, the Bosnian War, the Kosovo War, the Sierra Leone Civil War, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. The Royal Marines have international ties with allied marine forces, particularly the United States Marine Corps[133] and the Netherlands Marine Corps/Korps Mariniers.[134]

Naval bases

See also: List of Royal Navy shore establishments

The Royal Navy currently uses three major naval port bases in the UK, each housing its own flotilla of ships and boats ready for service, along with two naval air stations and a support facility base in Bahrain:

Bases in the United Kingdom

 
HMS Albion during HMNB Devonport's Navy day, 2006.
  • HMNB Portsmouth (HMS Nelson) – This is home to the Queen Elizabeth Class supercarriers. Portsmouth is also the home to the Type 45 Daring Class Destroyer and a moderate fleet of Type 23 frigates as well as Fishery Protection Squadrons.[136]
  • HMNB Clyde (HMS Neptune) – This is situated in Central Scotland along the River Clyde. Faslane is known as the home of the UK's nuclear deterrent, as it maintains the fleet of Vanguard-class ballistic missile (SSBN) submarines, as well as the fleet of Astute-class fleet (SSN) submarines. By 2022/23, Faslane will become the home to all Royal Navy submarines, and thus the RN Submarine Service. As a result, 43 Commando (Fleet Protection Group) are stationed in Faslane alongside to guard the base as well as The Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport. Moreover, Faslane is also home to Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron (FPBS) who operates a fleet of Archer class patrol vessels.[137][138]
 
HMS Vigilant alongside Faslane Naval Base
  • RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) – Yeovilton is home to Commando Helicopter Force and Wildcat Maritime Force.[139]
 
A Merlin HC3 and Wildcat AH1 both of Commando Helicopter Force, based at RNAS Yeovilton.
  • RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) – This is home to Mk2 Merlins, primarily tasked with conducting Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Early Airborne Warning (EAW). Culdrose is also currently the largest helicopter base in Europe.[140]
  • HMS Gannet - Previously known as RNAS Prestwick. Previously used for Defence of the Clyde and Search and Rescue tasking, it is now used primarily as a FOB for ASW Merlins deployed from RNAS Culdrose to support the SSBN and defence of the Clyde tasking.[141]
 
A Royal Navy Merlin HM2 at RNAS Culdrose.

Bases abroad

The current role of the Royal Navy is to protect British interests at home and abroad, executing the foreign and defence policies of His Majesty's Government through the exercise of military effect, diplomatic activities and other activities in support of these objectives. The Royal Navy is also a key element of the British contribution to NATO, with a number of assets allocated to NATO tasks at any time.[149] These objectives are delivered via a number of core capabilities:[150]

Current deployments

Main article: Standing Royal Navy deployments

The Royal Navy is currently deployed in different areas of the world, including some standing Royal Navy deployments. These include several home tasks as well as overseas deployments. The Navy is deployed in the Mediterranean as part of standing NATO deployments including mine countermeasures and NATO Maritime Group 2. In both the North and South Atlantic, RN vessels are patrolling. There is always a Falkland Islands patrol vessel on deployment, currently HMS Forth.[151]

The Royal Navy operates a Response Force Task Group (a product of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review), which is poised to respond globally to short-notice tasking across a range of defence activities, such as non-combatant evacuation operations, disaster relief, humanitarian aid or amphibious operations. In 2011, the first deployment of the task group occurred under the name 'COUGAR 11' which saw them transit through the Mediterranean where they took part in multinational amphibious exercises before moving further east through the Suez Canal for further exercises in the Indian Ocean.[152][153]

 
The RN presence in the Persian Gulf typically consists of a Type 23 frigate (though Type 45 destroyer is pictured here) and a squadron of minehunters supported by an RFA Bay-class "mothership"

In the Persian Gulf, the RN sustains commitments in support of both national and coalition efforts to stabilise the region. The Armilla Patrol, which started in 1980, is the navy's primary commitment to the Gulf region. The Royal Navy also contributes to the combined maritime forces in the Gulf in support of coalition operations.[154] The UK Maritime Component Commander, overseer of all of His Majesty's warships in the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters, is also deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces.[155] The Royal Navy has been responsible for training the fledgeling Iraqi Navy and securing Iraq's oil terminals following the cessation of hostilities in the country. The Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission (Navy) (Umm Qasr), headed by a Royal Navy captain, has been responsible for the former duty whilst Commander Task Force Iraqi Maritime, a Royal Navy commodore, has been responsible for the latter.[156][157]

The Royal Navy contributes to standing NATO formations and maintains forces as part of the NATO Response Force. The RN also has a long-standing commitment to supporting the Five Powers Defence Arrangements countries and occasionally deploys to the Far East as a result.[158] This deployment typically consists of a frigate and a survey vessel, operating separately. Operation Atalanta, the European Union's anti-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean, is permanently commanded by a senior Royal Navy or Royal Marines officer at Northwood Headquarters and the navy contributes ships to the operation.[159]

From 2015, the Royal Navy also re-formed its UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) after it was disbanded in 2011 due to the retirement of HMS Ark Royal and Harrier GR9s.[160][161] The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers form the central part of this formation, supported by various escorts and support ships, with the aim to facilitate carrier-enabled power projection.[162] The UKCSG first assembled at sea in October 2020 as part of a rehearsal for its first operational deployment in 2021.[95]

In 2019, the Royal Navy announced the formation of two Littoral Response Groups as part of a transformation of its amphibious forces. These forward-based special operations-capable task groups are to be rapidly-deployable and able to carry out a range of tasks within the littoral, including raids and precision strikes. The first one, based in Europe, became operational in 2021, whilst the second will be based in the Indo-Pacific from 2023. They will centre around two amphibious assault ships, a company of Royal Marines and supporting elements.[163]

Command, control and organisation

The titular head of the Royal Navy is the Lord High Admiral, a position which was held by the Duke of Edinburgh from 2011 until his death in 2021 and since then remains vacant. The position had been held by Queen Elizabeth II from 1964 to 2011;[164] the Sovereign is the Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces.[165] The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, an admiral and member of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom. The Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence, which directs the Navy Board, a sub-committee of the Admiralty Board comprising only naval officers and Ministry of Defence (MOD) civil servants. These are all based in MOD Main Building in London, where the First Sea Lord, also known as the Chief of the Naval Staff, is supported by the Naval Staff Department.[166]

Organisation

The Fleet Commander has responsibility for the provision of ships, submarines and aircraft ready for any operations that the Government requires. Fleet Commander exercises his authority through the Navy Command Headquarters, based at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth. An operational headquarters, the Northwood Headquarters, at Northwood, London, is co-located with the Permanent Joint Headquarters of the United Kingdom's armed forces, and a NATO Regional Command, Allied Maritime Command.[167]

The Royal Navy was the first of the three armed forces to combine the personnel and training command, under the Principal Personnel Officer, with the operational and policy command, combining the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, Fleet and Naval Home Command into a single organisation, Fleet Command, in 2005 and becoming Navy Command in 2008. Within the combined command, the Second Sea Lord continues to act as the Principal Personnel Officer.[168] Previously, Flag Officer Sea Training was part of the list of top senior appointments in Navy Command, however, as part of the Navy Command Transformation Programme, the post has reduced from Rear-Admiral to Commodore, renamed as Commander Fleet Operational Sea Training.[169]

The Naval Command senior appointments are:[170][171]

Intelligence support to fleet operations is provided by intelligence sections at the various headquarters and from MOD Defence Intelligence, renamed from the Defence Intelligence Staff in early 2010.[172]

Locations

 
Portsmouth dockyard during the Trafalgar 200 International Fleet Review. Seen here are commissioned ships from; the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Greece, Pakistan, Ireland and Nigeria.
Main article: List of Royal Navy shore establishments

Historically, the Royal Navy divided the planet into a number of Stations, the number and boundaries of which changed over time. The former stations of the Royal Navy included the East Indies Station (1744-1831); East Indies and China Station (1832-1865); East Indies Station (1865-1913); Egypt and East Indies Station (1913-1918); East Indies Station (1918-1941). In response to increased Japanese threats, the separate East Indies Station was merged with the China Station in December 1941, to form the Eastern Fleet.[173] Later the Eastern Fleet became the East Indies Fleet. In 1952, after the Second World War ended, the East Indies Fleet became the Far East Fleet.[174]

The Royal Navy currently operates from three bases in the United Kingdom where commissioned ships are based; Portsmouth, Clyde and Devonport, Plymouth—Devonport is the largest operational naval base in the UK and Western Europe.[175] Each base hosts a flotilla command under a commodore, responsible for the provision of operational capability using the ships and submarines within the flotilla. 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines is similarly commanded by a brigadier and based in Plymouth.[176]

 
HMNB Clyde, Faslane, home of the Vanguard-class submarines

Historically, the Royal Navy maintained Royal Navy Dockyards around the world.[177] Dockyards of the Royal Navy are harbours where ships are overhauled and refitted. Only four are operating today; at Devonport, Faslane, Rosyth and at Portsmouth.[178] A Naval Base Review was undertaken in 2006 and early 2007, the outcome being announced by Secretary of State for Defence, Des Browne, confirming that all would remain however some reductions in manpower were anticipated.[179]

The academy where initial training for future Royal Navy officers takes place is Britannia Royal Naval College, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon. Basic training for future ratings takes place at HMS Raleigh at Torpoint, Cornwall, close to HMNB Devonport.[180]

Significant numbers of naval personnel are employed within the Ministry of Defence, Defence Equipment and Support and on exchange with the Army and Royal Air Force. Small numbers are also on exchange within other government departments and with allied fleets, such as the United States Navy. The navy also posts personnel in small units around the world to support ongoing operations and maintain standing commitments. Nineteen personnel are stationed in Gibraltar to support the small Gibraltar Squadron, the RN's only permanent overseas squadron. Some personnel are also based at East Cove Military Port and RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands to support APT(S). Small numbers of personnel are based in Diego Garcia (Naval Party 1002), Miami (NP 1011 – AUTEC), Singapore (NP 1022), Dubai (NP 1023) and elsewhere.[181]

On 6 December 2014, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced it would expand the UK's naval facilities in Bahrain to support larger Royal Navy ships deployed to the Persian Gulf. Once completed, it became the UK's first permanent military base located East of Suez since it withdrew from the region in 1971. The base is reportedly large enough to accommodate Type 45 destroyers and Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.[182][183][184]

Titles and naming

 
Type 23 frigates or "Duke class" are named after British dukes.

Of the Navy

The navy was referred to as the "Navy Royal" at the time of its founding in 1546, and this title remained in use into the Stuart period. During the interregnum, the commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell replaced many historical names and titles, with the fleet then referred to as the "Commonwealth Navy". The navy was renamed once again after the restoration in 1660 to the present title.[185]

Today, the navy of the United Kingdom is commonly referred to as the "Royal Navy" both in the United Kingdom and other countries. Navies of other Commonwealth countries where the British monarch is also head of state include their national name, e.g. Royal Australian Navy. Some navies of other monarchies, such as the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy) and Kungliga Flottan (Royal Swedish Navy), are also called "Royal Navy" in their own language. The Danish Navy uses the term "Royal" incorporated in its official name (Royal Danish Navy), but only "Flåden" (Navy) in everyday speech.[186] The French Navy, despite France being a republic since 1870, is often nicknamed "La Royale" (literally: The Royal).[187]

Of ships

Main article: List of ships of the Royal Navy
See also: List of active Royal Navy ships, Naming conventions for destroyers of the Royal Navy, and Type system of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy ships in commission are prefixed since 1789 with His Majesty's Ship (or "Her Majesty's Ship", when the monarch is a queen), abbreviated to "HMS"; for example, HMS Beagle. Submarines are styled HM Submarine, also abbreviated "HMS". Names are allocated to ships and submarines by a naming committee within the MOD and given by class, with the names of ships within a class often being thematic (for example, the Type 23s are named after British dukes) or traditional (for example, the Invincible-class aircraft carriers all carry the names of famous historic ships). Names are frequently re-used, offering a new ship the rich heritage, battle honours and traditions of her predecessors. Often, a particular vessel class will be named after the first ship of that type to be built. As well as a name, each ship and submarine of the Royal Navy and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is given a pennant number which in part denotes its role. For example, the destroyer HMS Daring (D32) displays the pennant number 'D32'.[188]

Ranks, rates and insignia

See also: Royal Navy officer rank insignia and Royal Navy other rank insignia

The Royal Navy ranks, rates and insignia form part of the uniform of the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy uniform is the pattern on which many of the uniforms of the other national navies of the world are based (e.g. Ranks and insignia of NATO navies officers, Uniforms of the United States Navy, Uniforms of the Royal Canadian Navy, French Naval Uniforms).[189]

Royal Navy officer rank insignia
NATO Code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1 OF(D)
  His Majesty's Naval Service Epaulette Rank Insignia                          
Rank Title: Admiral of the Fleet[190] Admiral Vice admiral Rear admiral Commodore Captain Commander Lieutenant commander Lieutenant Sub-Lieutenant Midshipman Officer Cadet
Abbreviation: Adm. of the Fleet[nb 5] Adm VAdm RAdm Cdre Capt Cdr Lt Cdr Lt Sub Lt / SLt Mid OC
Royal Navy other rank insignia
NATO Code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-2
  United Kingdom Rank Insignia (View)            
Rank Title: Warrant Officer 1 Warrant Officer 2 Chief Petty Officer Petty Officer Leading Rating Able Rating
Abbreviation: WO1 WO2[nb 6] CPO PO LH AB

1 Rank in abeyance – routine appointments no longer made to this rank, though honorary awards of this rank are occasionally made to senior members of the Royal family and prominent former First Sea Lords.

Customs and traditions

Main article: Customs and traditions of the Royal Navy
 
The Queen and Admiral Sir Alan West during a Fleet Review

Traditions

The Royal Navy has several formal customs and traditions including the use of ensigns and ships badges. Royal Navy ships have several ensigns used when under way and when in port. Commissioned ships and submarines wear the White Ensign at the stern whilst alongside during daylight hours and at the main-mast whilst under way. When alongside, the Union Jack is flown from the jackstaff at the bow, and can only be flown under way either to signal a court-martial is in progress or to indicate the presence of an admiral of the fleet on-board (including the Lord High Admiral or the monarch).[191]

The Fleet Review is an irregular tradition of assembling the fleet before the monarch. The first review on record was held in 1400, and the most recent review as of 2022 was held on 28 June 2005 to mark the bi-centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar; 167 ships from many different nations attended with the Royal Navy supplying 67.[192]

"Jackspeak"

There are several less formal traditions including service nicknames and Naval slang, known as "Jackspeak".[193] The nicknames include "The Andrew" (of uncertain origin, possibly after a zealous press ganger)[194][195] and "The Senior Service".[196][197] British sailors are referred to as "Jack" (or "Jenny"), or more widely as "Matelots". Royal Marines are fondly known as "Bootnecks" or often just as "Royals". A compendium of Naval slang was brought together by Commander A.T.L. Covey-Crump and his name has in itself become the subject of Naval slang; Covey-Crump.[196] A game traditionally played by the Navy is the four-player board game known as "Uckers". This is similar to Ludo and it is regarded as easy to learn, but difficult to play well.[198]

Navy cadets

The Royal Navy sponsors or supports three youth organisations:

  • Volunteer Cadet Corps – consisting of Royal Naval Volunteer Cadet Corps and Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps, the VCC was the first youth organisation officially supported or sponsored by the Admiralty in 1901.[199]
  • Combined Cadet Force – in schools, specifically the Royal Navy Section and the Royal Marines Section.[200]
  • Sea Cadets – supporting teenagers who are interested in naval matters, consisting of the Sea Cadets and the Royal Marines Cadets.[201]

The above organisations are the responsibility of the CUY branch of Commander Core Training and Recruiting (COMCORE) who reports to Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).[202]

In popular culture

See also: Nautical fiction

The Royal Navy of the 18th century is depicted in many novels and several films dramatising the voyage and mutiny on the Bounty.[203] The Royal Navy's Napoleonic campaigns of the early 19th century are also a popular subject of historical novels. Some of the best-known are Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series[204] and C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower chronicles.[205]

The Navy can also be seen in numerous films. The fictional spy James Bond is a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR).[206] The Royal Navy is featured in The Spy Who Loved Me, when a nuclear ballistic-missile submarine is stolen,[207] and in Tomorrow Never Dies when the media mogul Elliot Carver sinks a Royal Navy warship in an attempt to trigger a war between the UK and People's Republic of China.[208] Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was based on Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.[209] The Pirates of the Caribbean series of films also includes the Navy as the force pursuing the eponymous pirates.[210] Noël Coward directed and starred in his own film In Which We Serve, which tells the story of the crew of the fictional HMS Torrin during the Second World War. It was intended as a propaganda film and was released in 1942. Coward starred as the ship's captain, with supporting roles from John Mills and Richard Attenborough.[211]

C. S. Forester's Hornblower novels have been adapted for television.[212] The Royal Navy was the subject of the 1970s BBC television drama series, Warship,[213] and of a five-part documentary, Shipmates, that followed the workings of the Royal Navy day to day.[214]

Television documentaries about the Royal Navy include: Empire of the Seas: How the Navy Forged the Modern World, a four-part documentary depicting Britain's rise as a naval superpower, up until the First World War;[215] Sailor, about life on the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal;[216] and Submarine, about the submarine captains' training course, 'The Perisher'.[217] There have also been Channel 5 documentaries such as Royal Navy Submarine Mission, following a nuclear-powered fleet submarine.[218]

The BBC Light Programme radio comedy series The Navy Lark featured a fictitious warship ("HMS Troutbridge") and ran from 1959 to 1977.[219]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Since April 2013, Ministry of Defence publications no longer report the entire strength of the Regular Reserve; instead, only Regular Reserves serving under a fixed-term reserve contract are counted. These contracts are similar in nature to the Maritime Reserve.
  2. ^ In Royal Navy parlance, "commissioned ships" invariably refers to both submarines and surface ships. Non-commissioned ships operated by or in support of His Majesty's Naval Service are not included.
  3. ^
     
    1630–1707
     
    Middle Ages – 1707
     
    1707–1800
  4. ^
     
    1545–1606
     
    Middle Ages – 1606
     
    1606–1800
  5. ^ The rank of Admiral of the Fleet has become an honorary/posthumous rank, war time rank; ceremonial rank; regular appointments ended in 1995.
  6. ^ This rank was phased out in 2014 but re-instated in 2021

References

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  7. ^ Rose, Power at Sea, p. 36
  8. ^ Hyde-Price, European Security, pp. 105–106.
  9. ^ . Henry Jackson Society. 4 November 2006. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2006. Britannia, with her shield and trident, is the very symbol, not only of the Royal Navy, but also of British global power. In the last instance, the Royal Navy is the United Kingdom's greatest strategic asset and instrument. As the only other 'blue-water' navy other than those of France and the United States, its ballistic missile submarines carry the nation's nuclear deterrent and its aircraft carriers and escorting naval squadrons supply London with a deep oceanic power projection capability, which enables Britain to maintain a 'forward presence' globally, and the ability to influence events tactically throughout the world.
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  48. ^ MacFarlane, Thomas (1891). Within the Empire; An Essay on Imperial Federation. Ottawa: James Hope & Co., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. p. 29. Besides the Imperial fortress of Malta, Gibraltar, Halifax and Bermuda it has to maintain and arm coaling stations and forts at Siena Leone, St. Helena, Simons Bay (at the Cape of Good Hope), Trincomalee, Jamaica and Port Castries (in the island of Santa Lucia).
  49. ^ Alan Lennox-Boyd, The Secretary of State for the Colonies (2 February 1959). "MALTA (LETTERS PATENT) BILL". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 37. with full responsible control of their purely local affairs, the control of the naval and military services and of such other services and functions of government as are connected with the position of Malta as an imperial fortress and harbour remaining vested in the Imperial authorities.
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Further reading

  • Benbow, Tim. "The Royal Navy and sea power in British strategy, 1945–55." Historical Research 91.252 (2018): 375–398. online
  • Brown, D. K.; Moore, George (2012). Rebuilding the Royal Navy: Warship Design Since 1945. Seaforth. ISBN 9781848321502.
  • Clark, Stephen M., Dieu Hack-Polay, and P. Matthijs Bal. "Social Mobility and Promotion of Officers to Senior Ranks in the Royal Navy: Meritocracy or Class Ceiling?" Armed Forces & Society (2020): 0095327X20905118 online 17 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
  • Crimmin, Patricia K. "The Supply of Timber for the Royal Navy, c. 1803–c. 1830." The Naval Miscellany (Routledge, 2020) pp. 191–234.
  • Glaser, Darrell, and Ahmed Rahman. "Between the Dockyard and the Deep Blue Sea: Retention and Personnel Economics in the Royal Navy." (2021). online
  • Harding, Richard. "The royal navy, history and the study of leadership." in Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World: The Age of Reform and Revolution, 1700-1850 (2017): 9+ online.
  • Houlberg, Kristian, Jane Wickenden, and Dennis Freshwater. "Five centuries of medical contributions from the Royal Navy." Clinical Medicine 19.1 (2019): 22+. online
  • Kennedy, Paul. The rise and fall of British naval mastery (Penguin UK, 2017).
  • LeJacq, Seth Stein. "Escaping court martial for sodomy: Prosecution and its alternatives in the Royal Navy, 1690-1840." International Journal of Maritime History 33.1 (2021): 16–36.
  • Lincoln, Margarette. Representing the Royal Navy: British Sea Power, 1750–1815 (Routledge, 2017).
  • Neufeld, Matthew. "The biopolitics of manning the Royal Navy in late Stuart England." Journal of British Studies 56.3 (2017): 506–531.
  • Roberts, Hannah. The WRNS in wartime: the Women's Royal Naval Service 1917–1945 (IB Tauris, 2018)
  • Seligmann, Matthew S. "A Service Ready for Total War? The State of the Royal Navy in July 1914." English Historical Review 133.560 (2018): 98–122. online
  • Underwood, Patrick, Steven Pfaff, and Michael Hechter. "Threat, Deterrence, and Penal Severity: An Analysis of Flogging in the Royal Navy, 1740–1820." Social Science History 42.3 (2018): 411–439.
  • Wilson, Evan. "Particular skills: Warrant officers in the Royal Navy, 1775–1815." in A new naval history (Manchester University Press, 2018).
  • Clowes, William Laird; Markham, Clements Robert, Sir.; Mahan, Alfred Thayer; Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (1897–1903). The Royal Navy, a history from the earliest times to present. Vol. I. London : Samson Low, Marston, Co.
    • Clowes, William Laird; Markham, Clements Robert, Sir.; Mahan, Alfred Thayer; Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (1897–1903). The Royal Navy, a history from the earliest times to present. Vol. II. London : Samson Low, Marston, Co.
    • Clowes, William Laird; Markham, Clements Robert, Sir.; Mahan, Alfred Thayer; Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (1897–1903). The Royal Navy, a history from the earliest times to present. Vol. III. London : Samson Low, Marston, Co.
    • Clowes, William Laird; Markham, Clements Robert, Sir.; Mahan, Alfred Thayer; Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (1897–1903). The Royal Navy, a history from the earliest times to present. Vol. IV. London : Samson Low, Marston, Co.
    • Clowes, William Laird; Markham, Clements Robert, Sir.; Mahan, Alfred Thayer; Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (1897–1903). The Royal Navy, a history from the earliest times to present. Vol. V. London : Samson Low, Marston, Co.
    • Clowes, William Laird; Markham, Clements Robert, Sir.; Mahan, Alfred Thayer; Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (1897–1903). The Royal Navy, a history from the earliest times to present. Vol. VI. London : Samson Low, Marston, Co.
    • Simms, Brendan (2008). Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780465013326.

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January 16, 2023
royal, navy, senior, service, redirects, here, other, uses, disambiguation, senior, service, disambiguation, united, kingdom, naval, warfare, force, although, warships, were, used, english, scottish, kings, from, early, medieval, period, first, major, maritime. Senior Service redirects here For other uses see Royal Navy disambiguation and Senior Service disambiguation The Royal Navy RN is the United Kingdom s naval warfare force Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against France The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century the oldest of the UK s armed services it is consequently known as the Senior Service Royal NavyFounded1546 477 years ago 1546 1 Country Kingdom of England 1546 1707 a Great Britain 1707 1801 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801 1922 United Kingdom 1922 present TypeNavyRoleNaval warfareSize34 130 active personnel 2 4 040 maritime reserve 2 7 960 royal fleet reserve nb 1 72 commissioned ships 83 including RFA 3 nb 2 160 aircraft 4 Part ofHis Majesty s Naval ServiceNaval Staff OfficesWhitehall London United KingdomNickname s Senior ServiceMotto s Si vis pacem para bellum Latin If you wish for peace prepare for war Colours Red WhiteMarchQuick Heart of Oak Play help info Slow Westering Home de facto Fleet1 ship of the line 2 aircraft carriers 10 submarines 2 amphibious transport docks 6 destroyers 12 frigates 8 offshore patrol vessels 9 mine countermeasures vessels 18 fast patrol boats 3 survey ships 1 ice patrol shipWebsitewww wbr royalnavy wbr mod wbr ukCommandersCommander in ChiefKing Charles IIILord High AdmiralVacantFirst Sea LordAdmiral Sir Ben KeySecond Sea LordVice Admiral Martin ConnellFleet CommanderVice Admiral Andrew BurnsWarrant Officer to the Royal NavyWarrant Officer 1 Carl SteedmanInsigniaWhite Ensign nb 3 Naval jack nb 4 PennantAircraft flownAttackWildcat HMA2FighterF 35 Lightning IIPatrolMerlin HM2Wildcat HMA2ReconnaissanceAeroVironment RQ 20 Puma 5 Commando Wildcat AH1TrainerAvenger T1Juno HT1 6 Prefect T1Tutor T1TransportCommando Merlin HC3i 4 4A From the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy From the mid 18th century it was the world s most powerful navy until the Second World War The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy s ability to assert naval superiority globally Owing to this historical prominence it is common even among non Britons to refer to it as the Royal Navy without qualification Following World War I it was significantly reduced in size 7 although at the onset of World War II it was still the world s largest During the Cold War the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti submarine force hunting for Soviet submarines and mostly active in the GIUK gap Following the collapse of the Soviet Union its focus has returned to expeditionary operations around the world and it remains one of the world s foremost blue water navies 8 9 10 The Royal Navy maintains a fleet of technologically sophisticated ships submarines and aircraft including 2 aircraft carriers 2 amphibious transport docks 4 ballistic missile submarines which maintain the nuclear deterrent 6 nuclear fleet submarines 6 guided missile destroyers 12 frigates 9 mine countermeasure vessels and 26 patrol vessels As of October 2022 there are 72 operational commissioned ships including submarines as well as one historic ship HMS Victory in the Royal Navy plus 11 ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA there are also five Merchant Navy ships available to the RFA under a private finance initiative The RFA replenishes Royal Navy warships at sea and augments the Royal Navy s amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay class landing ship vessels It also works as a force multiplier for the Royal Navy often doing patrols that frigates used to do The Royal Navy is part of His Majesty s Naval Service which also includes the Royal Marines The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord who is an admiral and member of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom The Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence The Royal Navy operates from three bases in Britain where commissioned ships and submarines are based Portsmouth Clyde and Devonport the last being the largest operational naval base in Western Europe as well as two naval air stations RNAS Yeovilton and RNAS Culdrose where maritime aircraft are based Contents 1 Role 2 History 2 1 Earlier fleets 2 2 Age of Sail 2 3 Exploration 2 4 World Wars 2 5 Since 1945 2 6 Post Cold War 3 Royal Navy today 3 1 Personnel 3 2 Surface fleet 3 2 1 Aircraft carriers 3 2 2 Amphibious warfare 3 2 3 Clearance diving 3 2 4 Escort fleet 3 2 5 Mine countermeasure vessels MCMV 3 2 6 Offshore patrol vessels OPV 3 2 7 Ocean survey ships 3 2 8 Royal Fleet Auxiliary 3 2 9 Other ships 3 3 Submarine Service 3 3 1 Ballistic missile submarines SSBN 3 3 2 Fleet submarines SSN 3 4 Fleet Air Arm 3 5 Royal Marines 4 Naval bases 4 1 Bases in the United Kingdom 4 2 Bases abroad 4 3 Current deployments 5 Command control and organisation 5 1 Organisation 5 2 Locations 6 Titles and naming 6 1 Of the Navy 6 2 Of ships 7 Ranks rates and insignia 8 Customs and traditions 8 1 Traditions 8 2 Jackspeak 9 Navy cadets 10 In popular culture 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 Further reading 16 External links 16 1 Video clipsRole EditAs the seaborne branch of HM Armed Forces the RN has various roles As it stands today the RN has stated its six major roles as detailed below in umbrella terms 11 Preventing Conflict On a global and regional level Providing Security At Sea To ensure the stability of international trade at sea International Partnerships To help cement the relationship with the United Kingdom s allies such as NATO Maintaining a Readiness To Fight To protect the United Kingdom s interests across the globe Protecting the Economy To safeguard vital trade routes to guarantee the United Kingdom s and its allies economic prosperity at sea Providing Humanitarian Aid To deliver a fast and effective response to global catastrophesHistory EditMain articles History of the Royal Navy before 1707 History of the Royal Navy after 1707 and Royal Scots Navy The English Royal Navy was formally founded in 1546 by Henry VIII 12 though the Kingdom of England had possessed less organised naval forces for centuries prior to this 13 The Royal Scots Navy or Old Scots Navy had its origins in the Middle Ages until its merger with the English Royal Navy per the Acts of Union 1707 14 Earlier fleets Edit During much of the medieval period fleets or king s ships were often established or gathered for specific campaigns or actions and these would disperse afterwards These were generally merchant ships enlisted into service Unlike some European states England did not maintain a small permanent core of warships in peacetime England s naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilization of fleets when war broke out was slow 15 Control of the sea only became critical to Anglo Saxon kings in the 10th century 16 In the 11th century Aethelred II had an especially large fleet built by a national levy 17 During the period of Danish rule in the 11th century the authorities maintained a standing fleet by taxation and this continued for a time under Edward the Confessor who frequently commanded fleets in person 18 After the Norman Conquest English naval power waned and England suffered naval raids from the Vikings 19 In 1069 this allowed for the invasion and ravaging of England by Jarl Osborn brother of King Svein Estridsson and his sons 20 The lack of an organised navy came to a head during the First Barons War in which Prince Louis of France invaded England in support of northern barons With King John unable to organise a navy this meant the French landed at Sandwich unopposed in April 1216 John s flight to Winchester and his death later that year left the Earl of Pembroke as regent and he was able to marshal ships to fight the French in the Battle of Sandwich in 1217 one of the first major English battles at sea 21 The outbreak of the Hundred Years War emphasised the need for an English fleet French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340 22 England s naval forces could not prevent frequent raids on the south coast ports by the French and their allies Such raids halted only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V 23 A Scottish fleet existed by the reign of William the Lion 24 In the early 13th century there was a resurgence of Viking naval power in the region The Vikings clashed with Scotland over control of the isles 25 though Alexander III was ultimately successful in asserting Scottish control 26 The Scottish fleet was of particular import in repulsing English forces in the early 14th century 27 A late 16th century painting of the Spanish Armada in battle with English warships Age of Sail Edit A standing Navy Royal 12 with its own secretariat dockyards and a permanent core of purpose built warships emerged during the reign of Henry VIII 28 Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain which saw privately owned vessels combining with the Queen s ships in highly profitable raids against Spanish commerce and colonies 29 The Royal Navy was then used in 1588 to repulse the Spanish Armada but the English Armada was lost the next year In 1603 the Union of the Crowns created a personal union between England and Scotland While the two remained distinct sovereign states for a further century the two navies increasingly fought as a single force During the early 17th century England s relative naval power deteriorated until Charles I undertook a major programme of shipbuilding His methods of financing the fleet contributed to the outbreak of the English Civil War and the abolition of the monarchy 30 The Commonwealth of England replaced many names and symbols in the new Commonwealth Navy associated with royalty and the high church and expanded it to become the most powerful in the world 31 32 The fleet was quickly tested in the First Anglo Dutch War 1652 1654 and the Anglo Spanish War 1654 1660 which saw the conquest of Jamaica and successful attacks on Spanish treasure fleets The 1660 Restoration saw Charles II rename the Royal Navy again and started use of the prefix HMS The Navy remained a national institution and not a possession of the Crown as it had been before 33 Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688 England joined the War of the Grand Alliance which marked the end of France s brief pre eminence at sea and the beginning of an enduring British supremacy 34 HMS Victory Nelson s flagship at Trafalgar is still a commissioned Royal Navy ship although she is now permanently kept in dry dock In 1707 the Scottish navy was united with the English Royal Navy On Scottish men of war the cross of St Andrew was replaced with the Union Jack On English ships the red white or blue ensigns had the St George s Cross of England removed from the canton and the combined crosses of the Union flag put in its place 35 Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the Royal Navy was the largest maritime force in the world 36 maintaining superiority in financing tactics training organisation social cohesion hygiene logistical support and warship design 37 The peace settlement following the War of the Spanish Succession 1702 1714 granted Britain Gibraltar and Menorca providing the Navy with Mediterranean bases The expansion of the Royal Navy would encourage the British colonization of the Americas with British North America becoming a vital source of timber for the Royal Navy 38 There was a defeat during the frustrated siege of Cartagena de Indias in 1741 A new French attempt to invade Britain was thwarted by the defeat of their escort fleet in the extraordinary Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 fought in dangerous conditions 39 In 1762 the resumption of hostilities with Spain led to the British capture of Manila and of Havana along with a Spanish fleet sheltering there 40 British naval supremacy could however be challenged still in this period by coalitions of other nations as seen in the American War of Independence The United States was allied to France and the Netherlands and Spain were also at war with Britain In the Battle of the Chesapeake the British fleet failed to lift the French blockade resulting in the surrender of an entire British army at Yorktown 41 The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1793 1801 1803 1814 amp 1815 saw the Royal Navy reach a peak of efficiency dominating the navies of all Britain s adversaries which spent most of the war blockaded in port Under Lord Nelson the navy defeated the combined Franco Spanish fleet at Trafalgar 1805 42 Ships of the line and even frigates as well as manpower were prioritised for the naval war in Europe however leaving only smaller vessels on the North America Station and other less active stations and a heavy reliance upon impressed labour This would result in problems countering large well armed United States Navy frigates which outgunned Royal Naval vessels in single opponent actions as well as United States privateers when the American War of 1812 broke out concurrent with the war against Napoleonic France and its allies The Royal Navy still enjoyed a numerical advantage over the former colonists on the Atlantic blockading the Atlantic seaboard of the United States throughout the war and carrying out with Royal Marines Colonial Marines British Army and Board of Ordnance military corps units various amphibious operations most notably the Chesapeake campaign On the Great Lakes however the United States Navy established an advantage 43 The Battle of Trafalgar depicted here in its opening phase Between 1815 and 1914 the Navy saw little serious action owing to the absence of any opponent strong enough to challenge its dominance though it did not suffer the drastic cutbacks the various military forces underwent in the period of economic austerity that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the American War of 1812 when the British Army and the Board of Ordnance military corps were cutback weakening garrisons around the Empire the Militia became a paper tiger and the Volunteer Force and Fencible units disbanded though the Yeomanry was maintained as a back up to the police Britain relied throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century on imperial fortress colonies originally Bermuda Gibraltar Halifax Nova Scotia and Malta though military control on Nova Scotia passed to the new dominion government after the 1867 Confederation of Canada and naval control of the Halifax Yard was transferred to the new Royal Canadian Navy in 1905 as bases for naval squadrons with stores and dockyard facilities These allowed control not only of the Atlantic but it was presumed also of the other oceans Prior to the 1920s it was presumed that the only navies that could challenge the Royal Navy belonged to nations on the Atlantic ocean or its connected seas Britain would rely on Malta in the Mediterranean Sea to project power to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean via the Suez Canal after its completion in 1869 and relying on amity and common interests between Britain and the United States during and after the First World War on Bermuda and Halifax to project power in North America and later North America and the West Indies 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 During this period naval warfare underwent a comprehensive transformation brought about by steam propulsion metal ship construction and explosive munitions Despite having to completely replace its war fleet the Navy managed to maintain its overwhelming advantage over all potential rivals Owing to British leadership in the Industrial Revolution the country enjoyed unparalleled shipbuilding capacity and financial resources which ensured that no rival could take advantage of these revolutionary changes to negate the British advantage in ship numbers 54 In 1889 Parliament passed the Naval Defence Act which formally adopted the two power standard which stipulated that the Royal Navy should maintain a number of battleships at least equal to the combined strength of the next two largest navies 55 The end of the 19th century saw structural changes and older vessels were scrapped or placed into reserve making funds and manpower available for newer ships The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 rendered all existing battleships obsolete 56 The transition at this time from coal fired to petrol powered ships would encourage Britain to colonize former Ottoman territories in the Middle East especially Iraq 57 Exploration Edit Ambition leads me farther than any other man has been before me Captain James Cook 58 The Royal Navy played an historic role in several great global explorations of science and discovery 59 Beginning in the 18th century many great voyages were commissioned often in co operation with the Royal Society such as the Northwest Passage expedition of 1741 James Cook led three great voyages with goals such as discovering Terra Australis observing the Transit of Venus and searching for the elusive North West Passage these voyages are considered to have contributed to world knowledge and science 60 The routes of Captain James Cook s three voyages In the late 18th century during a four year voyage Captain George Vancouver made detailed maps of the Western Coastline of North America In the 19th century Charles Darwin made further contributions to science during the second voyage of HMS Beagle 61 The Ross expedition to the Antarctic made several important discoveries in biology and zoology 62 Several of the Royal Navy s voyages ended in disaster such as those of Franklin and Scott 63 World Wars Edit During the First World War the Royal Navy s strength was mostly deployed at home in the Grand Fleet confronting the German High Seas Fleet across the North Sea Several inconclusive clashes took place between them chiefly the Battle of Jutland in 1916 64 The British fighting advantage proved insurmountable leading the High Seas Fleet to abandon any attempt to challenge British dominance 65 For its part the Royal Navy under John Jellicoe also tried to avoid combat and remained in port at Scapa Flow for much of the war 66 This was contrary to widespread prewar expectations that in the event of a Continental conflict Britain would primarily provide naval support to the Entente Powers while sending at most only a small ground army Nevertheless the Royal Navy played an important role in securing the British Isles and the English Channel notably ferrying the entire British Expeditionary Force to the Western Front without the loss of a single life at the beginning of the war 67 Heavy cruiser HMS York berthed in Admiralty Floating Dock No 1 at the Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda 1934 At the end of the war the Royal Navy remained by far the world s most powerful navy It was larger than the U S Navy and French Navy combined and over twice as large as the Imperial Japanese Navy and Royal Italian Navy combined Its former primary competitor the Imperial German Navy was destroyed at the end of the war 68 In the inter war period the Royal Navy was stripped of much of its power The Washington and London Naval Treaties imposed the scrapping of some capital ships and limitations on new construction 69 The lack of an Imperial fortress in the region of Asia the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean was always to be a weakness throughout the nineteenth century as the former North American colonies that had become the United States of America had multiplied towards the Pacific coast of North America and the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire both had ports on the Pacific and had begun building large modern fleets which went to war with each other in 1905 Britain reliance on Malta via the Suez Canal as the nearest Imperial fortress was improved relying on amity and common interests that developed between Britain and the United States during and after the First World War by the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914 allowing the cruisers based in Bermuda to more easily and rapidly reach the eastern Pacific Ocean after the war the Royal Navy s Bermuda based North America and West Indies Station was consequently re designated the America and West Indies station including a South American division However the rising power and increasing belligerence of the Japanese Empire after the First World War would result in the construction of the Singapore Naval Base which was completed in 1938 less than four years before hostilities with Japan did commence during the Second World War In 1932 the Invergordon Mutiny took place in the Atlantic Fleet over the National Government s proposed 25 pay cut which was eventually reduced to 10 70 International tensions increased in the mid 1930s and the re armament of the Royal Navy was well under way by 1938 In addition to new construction several existing old battleships battlecruisers and heavy cruisers were reconstructed and anti aircraft weaponry reinforced while new technologies such as ASDIC Huff Duff and hydrophones were developed 71 At the start of World War II in 1939 the Royal Navy was still the largest in the world with over 1 400 vessels 72 73 The Royal Navy provided critical cover during Operation Dynamo the British evacuations from Dunkirk and as the ultimate deterrent to a German invasion of Britain during the following four months The Luftwaffe under Hermann Goring attempted to gain air supremacy over southern England in the Battle of Britain in order to neutralize the Home Fleet but faced stiff resistance from the Royal Air Force 74 The Luftwaffe bombing offensive during the Kanalkampf phase of the battle targeted naval convoys and bases in order to lure large concentrations of RAF fighters into attrition warfare 75 At Taranto Admiral Cunningham commanded a fleet that launched the first all aircraft naval attack in history The Royal Navy suffered heavy losses in the first two years of the war Over 3 000 people were lost when the converted troopship Lancastria was sunk in June 1940 the greatest maritime disaster in Britain s history 76 The Navy s most critical struggle was the Battle of the Atlantic defending Britain s vital North American commercial supply lines against U boat attack A traditional convoy system was instituted from the start of the war but German submarine tactics based on group attacks by wolf packs were much more effective than in the previous war and the threat remained serious for well over three years 77 Since 1945 Edit After the Second World War the decline of the British Empire and the economic hardships in Britain forced the reduction in the size and capability of the Royal Navy The United States Navy instead took on the role of global naval power Governments since have faced increasing budgetary pressures partly due to the increasing cost of weapons systems 78 In 1981 Defence Secretary John Nott had advocated and initiated a series of cutbacks to the Navy 79 The Falklands War however proved a need for the Royal Navy to regain an expeditionary and littoral capability which with its resources and structure at the time would prove difficult At the beginning of the 1980s the Royal Navy was a force focused on blue water anti submarine warfare Its purpose was to search for and destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic and to operate the nuclear deterrent submarine force The navy received its first nuclear weapons with the introduction of the first of the Resolution class submarines armed with the Polaris missile 80 Post Cold War Edit Following the conclusion of the Cold War the Royal Navy began to experience a gradual decline in its fleet size in accordance with the changed strategic environment it operated in While new and more capable ships are continually brought into service such as the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers Astute class submarines and Type 45 destroyers the total number of ships and submarines operated has continued to steadily reduce This has caused considerable debate about the size of the Royal Navy with a 2013 report finding that the current RN was already too small and that Britain would have to depend on her allies if her territories were attacked 81 The financial costs attached to nuclear deterrence have become an increasingly significant issue for the navy 82 Royal Navy today EditSee also Future of the Royal Navy Personnel Edit Britannia Royal Naval College HMS Raleigh at Torpoint Cornwall is the basic training facility for newly enlisted ratings Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment for the navy located at Dartmouth Devon Personnel are divided into a warfare branch which includes Warfare Officers previously named seamen officers and Naval Aviators 83 as well other branches including the Royal Naval Engineers Royal Navy Medical Branch and Logistics Officers previously named Supply Officers Present day officers and ratings have several different uniforms some are designed to be worn aboard ship others ashore or in ceremonial duties Women began to join the Royal Navy in 1917 with the formation of the Women s Royal Naval Service WRNS which was disbanded after the end of the First World War in 1919 It was revived in 1939 and the WRNS continued until disbandment in 1993 as a result of the decision to fully integrate women into the structures of the Royal Navy Women now serve in all sections of the Royal Navy including the Royal Marines 84 In August 2019 the Ministry of Defence published figures showing that the Royal Navy and Royal Marines had 29 090 full time trained personnel compared with a target of 30 600 85 In December 2019 the First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin outlined a proposal to reduce the number of Rear Admirals at Navy Command by five 86 The fighting arms excluding Commandant General Royal Marines would be reduced to Commodore 1 star rank and the surface flotillas would be combined Training would be concentrated under the Fleet Commander 87 Surface fleet Edit See also List of active Royal Navy ships Main article Royal Navy Surface Fleet HMS Queen Elizabeth a Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier on sea trials in June 2017 Aircraft carriers Edit The Royal Navy has two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers Each carrier costs 3 billion and displaces 65 000 tonnes 64 000 long tons 72 000 short tons 88 The first HMS Queen Elizabeth commenced flight trials in 2018 Both are intended to operate the STOVL variant of the F 35 Lightning II Queen Elizabeth began sea trials in June 2017 was commissioned later that year and entered service in 2020 89 while the second HMS Prince of Wales began sea trials on 22 September 2019 was commissioned in December 2019 and was declared operational as of October 2021 90 91 92 93 94 The aircraft carriers will form a central part of the UK Carrier Strike Group alongside escorts and support ships 95 Amphibious warfare Edit Amphibious warfare ships in current service include two landing platform docks HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark While their primary role is to conduct amphibious warfare they have also been deployed for humanitarian aid missions 96 Clearance diving Edit The Royal Navy clearance diving unit the Fleet Diving Squadron was reorganised and rebranded to the Diving and Threat Exploitation Group in 2022 The group consists of five squadrons Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta and Echo 97 98 The Royal Navy has a separate diving unit a special forces unit the Special Boat Service 99 Escort fleet Edit The escort fleet comprises guided missile destroyers and frigates and is the traditional workhorse of the Navy 100 As of July 2021 update there are six Type 45 destroyers and 12 Type 23 frigates in active service Among their primary roles is to provide escort for the larger capital ships protecting them from air surface and subsurface threats Other duties include undertaking the Royal Navy s standing deployments across the globe which often consists of counter narcotics anti piracy missions and providing humanitarian aid 96 HMS Duncan the Type 45 guided missile destroyer The Type 45 is primarily designed for anti aircraft and anti missile warfare and the Royal Navy describe the destroyer s mission as to shield the Fleet from air attack 101 They are equipped with the PAAMS also known as Sea Viper integrated anti aircraft warfare system which incorporates the sophisticated SAMPSON and S1850M long range radars and the Aster 15 and 30 missiles 102 HMS Kent the Type 23 frigate designed for anti submarine warfare 16 Type 23 frigates were delivered to the Royal Navy with the final vessel HMS St Albans commissioned in June 2002 However the 2004 Delivering Security in a Changing World review announced that three frigates would be paid off as part of a cost cutting exercise and these were subsequently sold to the Chilean Navy 103 The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review announced that the remaining 13 Type 23 frigates would eventually be replaced by the Type 26 Frigate 104 The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 reduced the procurement of Type 26 to eight with five Type 31e frigates to be procured 105 Mine countermeasure vessels MCMV Edit There are two classes of MCMVs in the Royal Navy three Sandown class minehunters and six Hunt class mine countermeasures vessels The Hunt class vessels combine the separate roles of the traditional minesweeper and the active minehunter in one hull If required the Sandown and Hunt class vessels can take on the role of offshore patrol vessels 106 Offshore patrol vessels OPV Edit A fleet of eight River class offshore patrol vessels are in service with the Royal Navy The three Batch 1 ships of the class serve in U K waters in a sovereignty and fisheries protection role while the five Batch 2 ships are forward deployed on a long term basis to Gibraltar the Caribbean the Falkland Islands and the Indo Pacific region 107 The vessel MV Grampian Frontier is leased from Scottish based North Star Shipping for patrol duties around the British Indian Ocean Territory However she is not in commission with the Royal Navy 108 In December 2019 the modified Batch 1 River class vessel HMS Clyde was decommissioned with the Batch 2 HMS Forth taking over duties as the Falkland Islands patrol ship 109 110 HMS Protector a Royal Navy Antarctic patrol ship Ocean survey ships Edit HMS Protector is a dedicated Antarctic patrol ship that fulfils the nation s mandate to provide support to the British Antarctic Survey BAS 111 HMS Scott is an ocean survey vessel and at 13 500 tonnes is one of the largest ships in the Navy The other is the multi role ship HMS Enterprise which came into service in 2003 As of 2018 the newly commissioned HMS Magpie also undertakes survey duties at sea 112 The Royal Navy also plans to commission a new Multi Role Ocean Surveillance Ship in 2024 in part to protect undersea cables and gas pipelines 113 Royal Fleet Auxiliary Edit The Royal Fleet Auxiliary consists of one Fleet Solid Support Ship six fleet tankers two of which are maintained in reserve and one aviation training and casualty reception vessel which is planned for conversion into a Littoral Strike Ship 114 115 Three amphibious transport docks are also incorporated within its fleet These are known as the Bay class landing ships of which four were introduced in 2006 2007 but one was sold to the Royal Australian Navy in 2011 116 In November 2006 the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band described the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels as a major uplift in the Royal Navy s war fighting capability 117 Other ships Edit On 29 July 2022 the Royal Navy christened a new experimental ship XV Patrick Blackett which it aims to use as a testbed for autonomous systems Whilst the ship flies the Blue Ensign it is crewed by Royal Navy personnel and will participate in Royal Navy and NATO exercises 118 119 Submarine Service Edit Main article Royal Navy Submarine Service HMS Astute the first Astute class nuclear submarine The Submarine Service is the submarine based element of the Royal Navy It is sometimes referred to as the Silent Service 120 as the submarines are generally required to operate undetected Founded in 1901 the service made history in 1982 when during the Falklands War HMS Conqueror became the first nuclear powered submarine to sink a surface ship ARA General Belgrano Today all of the Royal Navy s submarines are nuclear powered 121 Ballistic missile submarines SSBN Edit The Royal Navy operates four Vanguard class ballistic missile submarines displacing nearly 16 000 tonnes and equipped with Trident II missiles armed with nuclear weapons and heavyweight Spearfish torpedoes with the purpose to carry out Operation Relentless the United Kingdom s Continuous At Sea Deterrent CASD The UK government has committed to replace these submarines with four new Dreadnought class submarines which will enter service in the early 2030s to maintain a nuclear ballistic missile submarine fleet and the ability to launch nuclear weapons 122 123 Fleet submarines SSN Edit As of August 2022 six fleet submarines are in commission one Trafalgar class and five Astute class one of which was still working up to operational status as of August 2022 124 Two more Astute class fleet submarines are scheduled to enter service by the mid 2020s while the remaining Trafalgar class boat will be withdrawn 125 The Trafalgar class displace approximately 5 300 tonnes when submerged and are armed with Tomahawk land attack missiles and Spearfish torpedoes The Astute class at 7 400 tonnes 126 are much larger and carry a larger number of Tomahawk missiles and Spearfish torpedoes HMS Anson was the latest Astute class boat to be commissioned 124 Fleet Air Arm Edit Main article Fleet Air Arm The F 35B aircraft are operated from the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers The Fleet Air Arm FAA is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft it can trace its roots back to 1912 and the formation of the Royal Flying Corps The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AW 101 Merlin HC4 in support of 3 Commando Brigade as the Commando Helicopter Force the AW 159 Wildcat HM2 the AW101 Merlin HM2 in the anti submarine role and the F 35B Lightning II in the carrier strike role 127 Pilots designated for rotary wing service train under No 1 Flying Training School 1 FTS 128 at RAF Shawbury 129 Royal Marines Edit Main article Royal Marines Royal Marines in Sangin 2010 Royal Marines Band Service members beside HMS Duncan in 2010 The Royal Marines are an amphibious specialised light infantry force of commandos capable of deploying at short notice in support of His Majesty s Government s military and diplomatic objectives overseas 130 The Royal Marines are organised into a highly mobile light infantry brigade 3 Commando Brigade and 7 commando units 131 including 1 Assault Group Royal Marines 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines and a company strength commitment to the Special Forces Support Group The Corps operates in all environments and climates though particular expertise and training is spent on amphibious warfare Arctic warfare mountain warfare expeditionary warfare and commitment to the UK s Rapid Reaction Force The Royal Marines are also the primary source of personnel for the Special Boat Service SBS the Royal Navy s contribution to the United Kingdom Special Forces 132 The Corps includes the Royal Marines Band Service the musical wing of the Royal Navy The Royal Marines have seen action in a number of wars often fighting beside the British Army including in the Seven Years War the Napoleonic Wars the Crimean War World War I and World War II In recent times the Corps has been deployed in expeditionary warfare roles such as the Falklands War the Gulf War the Bosnian War the Kosovo War the Sierra Leone Civil War the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan The Royal Marines have international ties with allied marine forces particularly the United States Marine Corps 133 and the Netherlands Marine Corps Korps Mariniers 134 Naval bases EditSee also List of Royal Navy shore establishments The Royal Navy currently uses three major naval port bases in the UK each housing its own flotilla of ships and boats ready for service along with two naval air stations and a support facility base in Bahrain Bases in the United Kingdom Edit HMNB Devonport HMS Drake This is currently the largest operational naval base in Western Europe Devonport s flotilla consists of the RN s two amphibious assault vessels HM Ships Albion and Bulwark and more than half the fleet of Type 23 frigates Devonport also has been home to some of the RN s Submarines service but now only to the one remaining Trafalgar class submarine 135 HMS Albion during HMNB Devonport s Navy day 2006 HMNB Portsmouth HMS Nelson This is home to the Queen Elizabeth Class supercarriers Portsmouth is also the home to the Type 45 Daring Class Destroyer and a moderate fleet of Type 23 frigates as well as Fishery Protection Squadrons 136 HMNB Clyde HMS Neptune This is situated in Central Scotland along the River Clyde Faslane is known as the home of the UK s nuclear deterrent as it maintains the fleet of Vanguard class ballistic missile SSBN submarines as well as the fleet of Astute class fleet SSN submarines By 2022 23 Faslane will become the home to all Royal Navy submarines and thus the RN Submarine Service As a result 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group are stationed in Faslane alongside to guard the base as well as The Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport Moreover Faslane is also home to Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron FPBS who operates a fleet of Archer class patrol vessels 137 138 HMS Vigilant alongside Faslane Naval Base RNAS Yeovilton HMS Heron Yeovilton is home to Commando Helicopter Force and Wildcat Maritime Force 139 A Merlin HC3 and Wildcat AH1 both of Commando Helicopter Force based at RNAS Yeovilton RNAS Culdrose HMS Seahawk This is home to Mk2 Merlins primarily tasked with conducting Anti Submarine Warfare ASW and Early Airborne Warning EAW Culdrose is also currently the largest helicopter base in Europe 140 HMS Gannet Previously known as RNAS Prestwick Previously used for Defence of the Clyde and Search and Rescue tasking it is now used primarily as a FOB for ASW Merlins deployed from RNAS Culdrose to support the SSBN and defence of the Clyde tasking 141 A Royal Navy Merlin HM2 at RNAS Culdrose Bases abroad Edit HMS Jufair Bahrain The home port for vessels deployed on Operation Kipion and acts as the hub of the Royal Navy s operations in the Persian Gulf Red Sea and Indian Ocean 142 Vessels based there include the 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron 143 usually a Royal Fleet Auxiliary and as of mid 2022 HMS Montrose 144 UK Joint Logistics Support Base Oman A logistical support facility which is strategically located in the Middle East but outside the Persian Gulf 145 British Defence Singapore Support Unit Singapore A remnant of HMNB Singapore which repairs and resupplies Royal Navy ships in the Asia Pacific 146 HMNB Gibraltar A current Royal Navy dockyard in Gibraltar which is still used for docking repairs training and resupply 147 Vessels permanently based with the Gibraltar Squadron include the Offshore Patrol Ship HMS Trent and the Cutlass class fast patrol boats HMS Cutlass and HMS Dagger 148 The current role of the Royal Navy is to protect British interests at home and abroad executing the foreign and defence policies of His Majesty s Government through the exercise of military effect diplomatic activities and other activities in support of these objectives The Royal Navy is also a key element of the British contribution to NATO with a number of assets allocated to NATO tasks at any time 149 These objectives are delivered via a number of core capabilities 150 Maintenance of the UK Nuclear Deterrent through a policy of Continuous at Sea Deterrence Provision of two medium scale maritime task groups with the Fleet Air Arm Delivery of the UK Commando force Contribution of assets to the Joint Helicopter Command Maintenance of standing patrol commitments Provision of mine counter measures capability to United Kingdom and allied commitments Provision of hydrographic and meteorological services deployable worldwide Protection of Britain s Exclusive Economic ZoneCurrent deployments Edit Main article Standing Royal Navy deployments The Royal Navy is currently deployed in different areas of the world including some standing Royal Navy deployments These include several home tasks as well as overseas deployments The Navy is deployed in the Mediterranean as part of standing NATO deployments including mine countermeasures and NATO Maritime Group 2 In both the North and South Atlantic RN vessels are patrolling There is always a Falkland Islands patrol vessel on deployment currently HMS Forth 151 The Royal Navy operates a Response Force Task Group a product of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review which is poised to respond globally to short notice tasking across a range of defence activities such as non combatant evacuation operations disaster relief humanitarian aid or amphibious operations In 2011 the first deployment of the task group occurred under the name COUGAR 11 which saw them transit through the Mediterranean where they took part in multinational amphibious exercises before moving further east through the Suez Canal for further exercises in the Indian Ocean 152 153 The RN presence in the Persian Gulf typically consists of a Type 23 frigate though Type 45 destroyer is pictured here and a squadron of minehunters supported by an RFA Bay class mothership In the Persian Gulf the RN sustains commitments in support of both national and coalition efforts to stabilise the region The Armilla Patrol which started in 1980 is the navy s primary commitment to the Gulf region The Royal Navy also contributes to the combined maritime forces in the Gulf in support of coalition operations 154 The UK Maritime Component Commander overseer of all of His Majesty s warships in the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters is also deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces 155 The Royal Navy has been responsible for training the fledgeling Iraqi Navy and securing Iraq s oil terminals following the cessation of hostilities in the country The Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission Navy Umm Qasr headed by a Royal Navy captain has been responsible for the former duty whilst Commander Task Force Iraqi Maritime a Royal Navy commodore has been responsible for the latter 156 157 The Royal Navy contributes to standing NATO formations and maintains forces as part of the NATO Response Force The RN also has a long standing commitment to supporting the Five Powers Defence Arrangements countries and occasionally deploys to the Far East as a result 158 This deployment typically consists of a frigate and a survey vessel operating separately Operation Atalanta the European Union s anti piracy operation in the Indian Ocean is permanently commanded by a senior Royal Navy or Royal Marines officer at Northwood Headquarters and the navy contributes ships to the operation 159 From 2015 the Royal Navy also re formed its UK Carrier Strike Group UKCSG after it was disbanded in 2011 due to the retirement of HMS Ark Royal and Harrier GR9s 160 161 The Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers form the central part of this formation supported by various escorts and support ships with the aim to facilitate carrier enabled power projection 162 The UKCSG first assembled at sea in October 2020 as part of a rehearsal for its first operational deployment in 2021 95 In 2019 the Royal Navy announced the formation of two Littoral Response Groups as part of a transformation of its amphibious forces These forward based special operations capable task groups are to be rapidly deployable and able to carry out a range of tasks within the littoral including raids and precision strikes The first one based in Europe became operational in 2021 whilst the second will be based in the Indo Pacific from 2023 They will centre around two amphibious assault ships a company of Royal Marines and supporting elements 163 Command control and organisation EditThe titular head of the Royal Navy is the Lord High Admiral a position which was held by the Duke of Edinburgh from 2011 until his death in 2021 and since then remains vacant The position had been held by Queen Elizabeth II from 1964 to 2011 164 the Sovereign is the Commander in chief of the British Armed Forces 165 The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord an admiral and member of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom The Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence which directs the Navy Board a sub committee of the Admiralty Board comprising only naval officers and Ministry of Defence MOD civil servants These are all based in MOD Main Building in London where the First Sea Lord also known as the Chief of the Naval Staff is supported by the Naval Staff Department 166 Organisation Edit The Fleet Commander has responsibility for the provision of ships submarines and aircraft ready for any operations that the Government requires Fleet Commander exercises his authority through the Navy Command Headquarters based at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth An operational headquarters the Northwood Headquarters at Northwood London is co located with the Permanent Joint Headquarters of the United Kingdom s armed forces and a NATO Regional Command Allied Maritime Command 167 The Royal Navy was the first of the three armed forces to combine the personnel and training command under the Principal Personnel Officer with the operational and policy command combining the Headquarters of the Commander in Chief Fleet and Naval Home Command into a single organisation Fleet Command in 2005 and becoming Navy Command in 2008 Within the combined command the Second Sea Lord continues to act as the Principal Personnel Officer 168 Previously Flag Officer Sea Training was part of the list of top senior appointments in Navy Command however as part of the Navy Command Transformation Programme the post has reduced from Rear Admiral to Commodore renamed as Commander Fleet Operational Sea Training 169 The Naval Command senior appointments are 170 171 Rank Name PositionProfessional Head of the Royal NavyAdmiral Sir Ben Key First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval StaffFleet CommanderVice Admiral Andrew Burns Fleet CommanderRear Admiral Edward Ahlgren Commander OperationsRear Admiral Michael Utley Commander United Kingdom Strike ForceLieutenant General Robert Magowan Commandant General Royal MarinesSecond Sea Lord amp Deputy Chief of Naval StaffVice Admiral Martin Connell Second Sea Lord amp Deputy Chief of Naval StaffVice Admiral James Parkin Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff Capability and Director DevelopmentRear Admiral Anthony Rimington Director Strategy and PolicyRear Admiral Jude Terry Director People and Training Naval SecretaryThe Venerable Andrew Hillier Chaplain of the FleetIntelligence support to fleet operations is provided by intelligence sections at the various headquarters and from MOD Defence Intelligence renamed from the Defence Intelligence Staff in early 2010 172 Locations Edit Portsmouth dockyard during the Trafalgar 200 International Fleet Review Seen here are commissioned ships from the United Kingdom the Netherlands Greece Pakistan Ireland and Nigeria Main article List of Royal Navy shore establishments Historically the Royal Navy divided the planet into a number of Stations the number and boundaries of which changed over time The former stations of the Royal Navy included the East Indies Station 1744 1831 East Indies and China Station 1832 1865 East Indies Station 1865 1913 Egypt and East Indies Station 1913 1918 East Indies Station 1918 1941 In response to increased Japanese threats the separate East Indies Station was merged with the China Station in December 1941 to form the Eastern Fleet 173 Later the Eastern Fleet became the East Indies Fleet In 1952 after the Second World War ended the East Indies Fleet became the Far East Fleet 174 The Royal Navy currently operates from three bases in the United Kingdom where commissioned ships are based Portsmouth Clyde and Devonport Plymouth Devonport is the largest operational naval base in the UK and Western Europe 175 Each base hosts a flotilla command under a commodore responsible for the provision of operational capability using the ships and submarines within the flotilla 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines is similarly commanded by a brigadier and based in Plymouth 176 HMNB Clyde Faslane home of the Vanguard class submarines Historically the Royal Navy maintained Royal Navy Dockyards around the world 177 Dockyards of the Royal Navy are harbours where ships are overhauled and refitted Only four are operating today at Devonport Faslane Rosyth and at Portsmouth 178 A Naval Base Review was undertaken in 2006 and early 2007 the outcome being announced by Secretary of State for Defence Des Browne confirming that all would remain however some reductions in manpower were anticipated 179 The academy where initial training for future Royal Navy officers takes place is Britannia Royal Naval College located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth Devon Basic training for future ratings takes place at HMS Raleigh at Torpoint Cornwall close to HMNB Devonport 180 Significant numbers of naval personnel are employed within the Ministry of Defence Defence Equipment and Support and on exchange with the Army and Royal Air Force Small numbers are also on exchange within other government departments and with allied fleets such as the United States Navy The navy also posts personnel in small units around the world to support ongoing operations and maintain standing commitments Nineteen personnel are stationed in Gibraltar to support the small Gibraltar Squadron the RN s only permanent overseas squadron Some personnel are also based at East Cove Military Port and RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands to support APT S Small numbers of personnel are based in Diego Garcia Naval Party 1002 Miami NP 1011 AUTEC Singapore NP 1022 Dubai NP 1023 and elsewhere 181 On 6 December 2014 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced it would expand the UK s naval facilities in Bahrain to support larger Royal Navy ships deployed to the Persian Gulf Once completed it became the UK s first permanent military base located East of Suez since it withdrew from the region in 1971 The base is reportedly large enough to accommodate Type 45 destroyers and Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers 182 183 184 Titles and naming Edit Type 23 frigates or Duke class are named after British dukes Of the Navy Edit The navy was referred to as the Navy Royal at the time of its founding in 1546 and this title remained in use into the Stuart period During the interregnum the commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell replaced many historical names and titles with the fleet then referred to as the Commonwealth Navy The navy was renamed once again after the restoration in 1660 to the present title 185 Today the navy of the United Kingdom is commonly referred to as the Royal Navy both in the United Kingdom and other countries Navies of other Commonwealth countries where the British monarch is also head of state include their national name e g Royal Australian Navy Some navies of other monarchies such as the Koninklijke Marine Royal Netherlands Navy and Kungliga Flottan Royal Swedish Navy are also called Royal Navy in their own language The Danish Navy uses the term Royal incorporated in its official name Royal Danish Navy but only Fladen Navy in everyday speech 186 The French Navy despite France being a republic since 1870 is often nicknamed La Royale literally The Royal 187 Of ships Edit Main article List of ships of the Royal Navy See also List of active Royal Navy ships Naming conventions for destroyers of the Royal Navy and Type system of the Royal Navy Royal Navy ships in commission are prefixed since 1789 with His Majesty s Ship or Her Majesty s Ship when the monarch is a queen abbreviated to HMS for example HMS Beagle Submarines are styled HM Submarine also abbreviated HMS Names are allocated to ships and submarines by a naming committee within the MOD and given by class with the names of ships within a class often being thematic for example the Type 23s are named after British dukes or traditional for example the Invincible class aircraft carriers all carry the names of famous historic ships Names are frequently re used offering a new ship the rich heritage battle honours and traditions of her predecessors Often a particular vessel class will be named after the first ship of that type to be built As well as a name each ship and submarine of the Royal Navy and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is given a pennant number which in part denotes its role For example the destroyer HMS Daring D32 displays the pennant number D32 188 Ranks rates and insignia EditSee also Royal Navy officer rank insignia and Royal Navy other rank insignia The Royal Navy ranks rates and insignia form part of the uniform of the Royal Navy The Royal Navy uniform is the pattern on which many of the uniforms of the other national navies of the world are based e g Ranks and insignia of NATO navies officers Uniforms of the United States Navy Uniforms of the Royal Canadian Navy French Naval Uniforms 189 Royal Navy officer rank insigniaNATO Code OF 10 OF 9 OF 8 OF 7 OF 6 OF 5 OF 4 OF 3 OF 2 OF 1 OF D His Majesty s Naval Service Epaulette Rank Insignia Rank Title Admiral of the Fleet 190 Admiral Vice admiral Rear admiral Commodore Captain Commander Lieutenant commander Lieutenant Sub Lieutenant Midshipman Officer CadetAbbreviation Adm of the Fleet nb 5 Adm VAdm RAdm Cdre Capt Cdr Lt Cdr Lt Sub Lt SLt Mid OC Royal Navy other rank insigniaNATO Code OR 9 OR 8 OR 7 OR 6 OR 5 OR 4 OR 2 United Kingdom Rank Insignia View Rank Title Warrant Officer 1 Warrant Officer 2 Chief Petty Officer Petty Officer Leading Rating Able RatingAbbreviation WO1 WO2 nb 6 CPO PO LH AB 1 Rank in abeyance routine appointments no longer made to this rank though honorary awards of this rank are occasionally made to senior members of the Royal family and prominent former First Sea Lords Customs and traditions EditMain article Customs and traditions of the Royal Navy The Queen and Admiral Sir Alan West during a Fleet Review Traditions Edit The Royal Navy has several formal customs and traditions including the use of ensigns and ships badges Royal Navy ships have several ensigns used when under way and when in port Commissioned ships and submarines wear the White Ensign at the stern whilst alongside during daylight hours and at the main mast whilst under way When alongside the Union Jack is flown from the jackstaff at the bow and can only be flown under way either to signal a court martial is in progress or to indicate the presence of an admiral of the fleet on board including the Lord High Admiral or the monarch 191 The Fleet Review is an irregular tradition of assembling the fleet before the monarch The first review on record was held in 1400 and the most recent review as of 2022 update was held on 28 June 2005 to mark the bi centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar 167 ships from many different nations attended with the Royal Navy supplying 67 192 Jackspeak Edit There are several less formal traditions including service nicknames and Naval slang known as Jackspeak 193 The nicknames include The Andrew of uncertain origin possibly after a zealous press ganger 194 195 and The Senior Service 196 197 British sailors are referred to as Jack or Jenny or more widely as Matelots Royal Marines are fondly known as Bootnecks or often just as Royals A compendium of Naval slang was brought together by Commander A T L Covey Crump and his name has in itself become the subject of Naval slang Covey Crump 196 A game traditionally played by the Navy is the four player board game known as Uckers This is similar to Ludo and it is regarded as easy to learn but difficult to play well 198 Navy cadets EditThe Royal Navy sponsors or supports three youth organisations Volunteer Cadet Corps consisting of Royal Naval Volunteer Cadet Corps and Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps the VCC was the first youth organisation officially supported or sponsored by the Admiralty in 1901 199 Combined Cadet Force in schools specifically the Royal Navy Section and the Royal Marines Section 200 Sea Cadets supporting teenagers who are interested in naval matters consisting of the Sea Cadets and the Royal Marines Cadets 201 The above organisations are the responsibility of the CUY branch of Commander Core Training and Recruiting COMCORE who reports to Flag Officer Sea Training FOST 202 In popular culture EditSee also Nautical fiction The Royal Navy of the 18th century is depicted in many novels and several films dramatising the voyage and mutiny on the Bounty 203 The Royal Navy s Napoleonic campaigns of the early 19th century are also a popular subject of historical novels Some of the best known are Patrick O Brian s Aubrey Maturin series 204 and C S Forester s Horatio Hornblower chronicles 205 The Navy can also be seen in numerous films The fictional spy James Bond is a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve RNVR 206 The Royal Navy is featured in The Spy Who Loved Me when a nuclear ballistic missile submarine is stolen 207 and in Tomorrow Never Dies when the media mogul Elliot Carver sinks a Royal Navy warship in an attempt to trigger a war between the UK and People s Republic of China 208 Master and Commander The Far Side of the World was based on Patrick O Brian s Aubrey Maturin series 209 The Pirates of the Caribbean series of films also includes the Navy as the force pursuing the eponymous pirates 210 Noel Coward directed and starred in his own film In Which We Serve which tells the story of the crew of the fictional HMS Torrin during the Second World War It was intended as a propaganda film and was released in 1942 Coward starred as the ship s captain with supporting roles from John Mills and Richard Attenborough 211 C S Forester s Hornblower novels have been adapted for television 212 The Royal Navy was the subject of the 1970s BBC television drama series Warship 213 and of a five part documentary Shipmates that followed the workings of the Royal Navy day to day 214 Television documentaries about the Royal Navy include Empire of the Seas How the Navy Forged the Modern World a four part documentary depicting Britain s rise as a naval superpower up until the First World War 215 Sailor about life on the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal 216 and Submarine about the submarine captains training course The Perisher 217 There have also been Channel 5 documentaries such as Royal Navy Submarine Mission following a nuclear powered fleet submarine 218 The BBC Light Programme radio comedy series The Navy Lark featured a fictitious warship HMS Troutbridge and ran from 1959 to 1977 219 See also Edit United Kingdom portal War portalList of ship names of the Royal Navy a full historical list List of naval vessels of the United Kingdom List of Admiralty floating docks List of equipment in the Royal Navy Bibliography of 18th 19th century Royal Naval history List of wars involving the United Kingdom His Majesty s Coastguard Royal British Legion Royal Hospital School Rule Britannia song Allan Grimson killer of sailors in the navy dubbed The Royal Navy s Dennis Nilsen 220 221 Notes Edit Since April 2013 Ministry of Defence publications no longer report the entire strength of the Regular Reserve instead only Regular Reserves serving under a fixed term reserve contract are counted These contracts are similar in nature to the Maritime Reserve In Royal Navy parlance commissioned ships invariably refers to both submarines and surface ships Non commissioned ships operated by or in support of His Majesty s Naval Service are not included 1630 1707 Middle Ages 1707 1707 1800 1545 1606 Middle Ages 1606 1606 1800 The rank of Admiral of the Fleet has become an honorary posthumous rank war time rank ceremonial rank regular appointments ended in 1995 This rank was phased out in 2014 but re instated in 2021References Edit Tittler Robert Jones Norman L 15 April 2008 A Companion to Tudor Britain John Wiley amp Sons p 193 ISBN 9781405137409 a b Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 October 2021 GOV UK Retrieved 13 February 2022 HMS Trent departs on her first deployment Royal Navy Retrieved 3 August 2020 Military Aircraft Written question 225369 House of Commons Hansard Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine parliament uk March 2015 Navy s drone experts 700X NAS ready to deploy on warships www royalnavy mod uk 705 Naval Air Squadron www royalnavy mod uk Royal Navy Rose Power at Sea p 36 Hyde Price European Security pp 105 106 The Royal Navy Britain s Trident for a Global Agenda Henry Jackson Society 4 November 2006 Archived from the original on 11 September 2016 Retrieved 4 November 2006 Britannia with her shield and trident is the very symbol not only of the Royal Navy but also of British global power In the last instance the Royal Navy is the United Kingdom s greatest strategic asset and instrument As the only other blue water navy other than those of France and the United States its ballistic missile submarines carry the nation s nuclear deterrent and its aircraft carriers and escorting naval squadrons supply London with a deep oceanic power projection capability which enables Britain to maintain a forward presence globally and the ability to influence events tactically throughout the world Bennett James C 2007 The Anglosphere Challenge Why the English speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty first Century United States Rowman amp Littlefield p 286 ISBN 978 0742533332 the United States and the United Kingdom have the world s two best world spanning blue water navies with the French being the only other candidate and China being the most likely competitor in the long term What we do Royal Navy Archived from the original on 30 December 2017 Retrieved 30 December 2017 a b Childs David 17 September 2009 Tudor Sea Power The Foundation of Greatness Seaforth Publishing p 298 ISBN 9781473819924 Rodger N A M 1998 The safeguard of the sea a naval history of Britain 660 1649 1st American ed New York W W Norton ISBN 9780393319606 S Murdoch The Terror of the Seas Scottish Maritime Warfare 1513 1713 Leiden Brill 2010 ISBN 90 04 18568 2 p 10 Rodger Safeguard pp 52 53 117 130 Firth Matthew Sebo Erin 2020 Kingship and Maritime Power in 10th Century England International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 49 2 329 340 doi 10 1111 1095 9270 12421 ISSN 1095 9270 S2CID 225372506 Swanton p 138 Swanton pp 154 165 160 172 Stanton Charles 2015 Medieval Maritime Wartime South Yorkshire Pen amp Sword Maritime pp 225 226 Stanton Charles D 2015 Medieval Maritime Warfare Pen and Sword ISBN 978 1781592519 Michel F 1840 Historie des Dues de Normandie et des Rois d Angleterre Paris pp 172 177 Rodger Safeguard pp 93 99 Rodger Safeguard pp 91 97 99 116 143 144 P F Tytler History of Scotland Volume 2 London Black 1829 pp 309 310 P J Potter Gothic Kings of Britain the Lives of 31 Medieval Rulers 1016 1399 Jefferson NC McFarland 2008 ISBN 0 7864 4038 4 p 157 A Macquarrie Medieval Scotland Kinship and Nation Thrupp Sutton 2004 ISBN 0 7509 2977 4 p 153 N A M Rodger The Safeguard of the Sea A Naval History of Britain Volume One 660 1649 London Harper 1997 pp 74 90 Rodger Safeguard pp 221 237 Rodger Safeguard pp 238 253 281 286 292 296 Rodger Safeguard pp 379 394 482 John Barratt 2006 Cromwell s Wars at Sea Barnsley South Yorkshire Pen amp Sword pp Rodger Command pp 2 3 216 217 607 Derrick Charles 1806 Memoirs of the rise and progress of the Royal Navy Archived from the original on 30 December 2017 Retrieved 30 December 2017 Rodger Command pp 142 152 607 608 Grant James ed The Old Scots Navy from 1689 to 1710 Navy Records Society 1914 p353 On the 1st of May 1707 the legislative Union of England and Scotland was consummated and the Scots and English navies were united and became known as the British navy The flag was changed The white cross of St Andrew on the blue banner of Scotland no longer indicated a Scottish man of war Its place was taken by the Union Jack and the red white or blue ensign from the canton of which the St George s Cross was removed to be replaced by the combined crosses of the Union Jack Rodger Command p 608 Rodger Command pp 291 311 408 425 473 476 484 488 Morison Samuel Eliot 1965 The Oxford history of the American people London Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 500030 7 OCLC 221276825 Rodger Command pp 277 283 Rodger Command pp 284 287 Rodger Command pp 351 352 Parkinson pp 91 114 Rodger Command pp 528 544 Gardiner Robert 2001 The Naval War of 1812 Caxton Pictorial Histories Chatham Publishing in association with The National Maritime Museum ISBN 1 84067 360 5 Keith Arthur Berriedale 1909 Responsible Government in The Dominions London Stevens and Sons Ltd p 5 Bermuda is still an Imperial fortress May CMG Royal Artillery Lieutenant Colonel Sir Edward Sinclair 1903 Principles and Problems of Imperial Defence London and New York Swan Sonnenschein amp Co Limited London E P Dutton amp Co New York p 145 In the North American and West Indian station the naval base is at the Imperial fortress of Bermuda with a garrison numbering 3068 men of whom 1011 are Colonials while at Halifax Nova Scotia we have another naval base of the first importance which is to be classed amongst our Imperial fortresses and has a garrison of 1783 men a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Willock USMC Lieutenant Colonel Roger 1988 Bulwark Of Empire Bermuda s Fortified Naval Base 1860 1920 Bermuda The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press ISBN 9780921560005 Gordon Donald Craigie 1965 The Dominion Partnership in Imperial Defense 1870 1914 Baltimore Maryland USA Johns Hopkins Press p 14 There were more than 44 000 troops stationed overseas in colonial garrisons and slightly more than half of these were in imperial fortresses in the Mediterranean Bermuda Halifax St Helena and Mauritius The rest of the forces were in colonies proper with a heavy concentration in New Zealand and South Africa The imperial government paid approximately 1 715 000 per annum toward the maintenance of these forces and the various colonial governments contributed 370 000 the largest amounts coming from Ceylon and Victoria in Australia MacFarlane Thomas 1891 Within the Empire An Essay on Imperial Federation Ottawa James Hope amp Co Ottawa Ontario Canada p 29 Besides the Imperial fortress of Malta Gibraltar Halifax and Bermuda it has to maintain and arm coaling stations and forts at Siena Leone St Helena Simons Bay at the Cape of Good Hope Trincomalee Jamaica and Port Castries in the island of Santa Lucia Alan Lennox Boyd The Secretary of State for the Colonies 2 February 1959 MALTA LETTERS PATENT BILL Parliamentary Debates Hansard Parliament of the United Kingdom House of Commons col 37 with full responsible control of their purely local affairs the control of the naval and military services and of such other services and functions of government as are connected with the position of Malta as an imperial fortress and harbour remaining vested in the Imperial authorities Kennedy R N Captain W R 1 July 1885 An Unknown Colony Sport Travel and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies Blackwood s Edinburgh Magazine William Blackwood amp Sons Edinburgh Scotland and 37 Paternoster Row London England p 111 As a fortress Bermuda is of the first importance It is situated almost exactly half way between the northern and the southern naval stations while nature has made it practically impregnable The only approach lies through that labyrinth of reefs and narrow channels which Captain Kennedy has described The local pilots are sworn to secrecy and what is more reassuring by lifting buoys and laying down torpedoes hostile vessels trying to thread the passage must come to inevitable grief So far Bermuda may be considered safe whatever may be the condition of the fortifications and the cannon in the batteries Yet the universal neglect of our colonial defences is apparent in the fact that no telegraphic communication has hitherto been established with the West Indies on the one side or with the Dominion of Canada on the other VERAX anonymous 1 May 1889 The Defense of Canada From Colburn s United Service Magazine The United Service A Quarterly Review of Military and Naval Affairs LR Hamersly amp Co 1510 Chestnut Street Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA subsequently LR Hamersly 49 Wall Street New York City New York USA BF Stevens amp Brown 4 Trafalgar Square London England p 552 The objectives for America are clearly marked Halifax Quebec Montreal Prescott Kingston Ottawa Toronto Winnipeg and Vancouver Halifax and Vancouver are certain to be most energetically attacked for they will be the naval bases besides Bermuda from which England would carry on her naval attack on the American coasts and commerce Dawson George M Sutherland Alexander 1898 MacMillan s Geographical Series Elementary Geography of the British Colonies London MacMillan and Co Limited London England UK The MacMillan Company New York City New York USA p 184 There is a strongly fortified dockyard and the defensive works together with the intricate character of the approaches to the harbour render the islands an almost impregnable fortress Bermuda is governed as a Crown colony by a Governor who is also Commander in Chief assisted by an appointed Executive Council and a representative House of Assembly Sir Henry Hardinge MP for Launceston 22 March 1839 SUPPLY ARMY ESTIMATES Parliamentary Debates Hansard Vol 46 Parliament of the United Kingdom House of Commons col 1141 1142 Such were some of the reasons why it appeared to him that her Majesty s forces should be increased He might go to other stations Bermuda for instance All who were conversant with the interests of our West Indian and North American possessions must know that Bermuda was one of our most important posts a station where the navy could be refitted with the greatest ease where during the last war we had about 2 000 000l value in stores where our ships such was the safety of the anchorage could at all times take refuge This island had been fortified at very great expense for some years 5 000 convicts had been engaged on the works and it was most important in every point of view that this island should be maintained in a state of perfect security For a long time even after the determination of the sympathisers in the United States to attack us had been known the force at Bermuda was never greater than a small battalion of 480 or 500 men perfectly inadequate to do the duties of the station Considering that this post was one of great consequence that immense sums had been expended upon it and that the efficiency of the navy in those seas was chiefly to be secured by means of it it was indispensable that it should be in safe keeping To what quarter were they to look for further reinforcements should they be needed to increase our army in America in the event of the dispute between New Brunswick and Maine becoming more serious Not to the West Indies from which two battalions had already been withdrawn Not to the Canadas for communication between these provinces and New Brunswick was impracticable separated as they were by a wilderness of 400 or 500 miles In the other colonies every man was required From the Ionian islands not one could be spared from Malta not one From Gibraltar perhaps one battalion more could be squeezed if they could bring themselves to inflict great additional hardship on the troops now in garrison there It really appeared to him absolutely necessary that Government should look to the state of the army should fairly consider the amount of work done by it and apply themselves to the question whether it was their duty to increase the military force How did Britain come to rule the waves History Extra Archived from the original on 7 March 2019 Retrieved 6 March 2019 Sondhaus p 161 Brown Paul January 2017 Building Dreadnought Ships Monthly 24 27 Steiner Zara 2005 The lights that failed European international history 1919 1933 Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 151881 2 OCLC 86068902 Captain Cook Explorer Navigator and Pioneer BBC 1 August 2002 Retrieved 1 August 2002 Howitt William 1865 Voyages of Captains Wickham Fitzroy and Stokes in the Beagle round the Australian Coasts from 1837 to 1843 The History of Discovery in Australia Tasmania and New Zealand From the Earliest Date to the Present Day Vol 1 London Longman Green Longman Roberts and Green p 332 Franklin Benjamin 1837 The works of Benjamin Franklin Tappan Whittemore and Mason pp 123 24 Retrieved 22 September 2011 HMS Beagle 1820 70 Royal Museums Greenwich Retrieved 3 February 2013 Godbey Holly 23 June 2017 Recent Discovery of Wrecked HMS Terror a Bombing Vessel From a Failed Arctic Expedition War History Online Crane D 2005 Scott of the Antarctic A Life of Courage and Tragedy in the Extreme South London HarperCollins p 409 ISBN 9780007150687 Geoffrey Bennett The Battle of Jutland History Today June 1960 10 6 pp 395 405 Distant Victory The Battle of Jutland and the Allied Triumph in the First World 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2018 375 398 online Brown D K Moore George 2012 Rebuilding the Royal Navy Warship Design Since 1945 Seaforth ISBN 9781848321502 Clark Stephen M Dieu Hack Polay and P Matthijs Bal Social Mobility and Promotion of Officers to Senior Ranks in the Royal Navy Meritocracy or Class Ceiling Armed Forces amp Society 2020 0095327X20905118 online Archived 17 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine Crimmin Patricia K The Supply of Timber for the Royal Navy c 1803 c 1830 The Naval Miscellany Routledge 2020 pp 191 234 Glaser Darrell and Ahmed Rahman Between the Dockyard and the Deep Blue Sea Retention and Personnel Economics in the Royal Navy 2021 online Harding Richard The royal navy history and the study of leadership in Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World The Age of Reform and Revolution 1700 1850 2017 9 online Houlberg Kristian Jane Wickenden and Dennis Freshwater Five centuries of medical contributions from the Royal Navy Clinical Medicine 19 1 2019 22 online Kennedy Paul The rise and fall of British naval mastery Penguin UK 2017 LeJacq Seth Stein Escaping court martial for sodomy Prosecution and its alternatives in the Royal Navy 1690 1840 International Journal of Maritime History 33 1 2021 16 36 Lincoln Margarette Representing the Royal Navy British Sea Power 1750 1815 Routledge 2017 Neufeld Matthew The biopolitics of manning the Royal Navy in late Stuart England Journal of British Studies 56 3 2017 506 531 Roberts Hannah The WRNS in wartime the Women s Royal Naval Service 1917 1945 IB Tauris 2018 Seligmann Matthew S A Service Ready for Total War The State of the Royal Navy in July 1914 English Historical Review 133 560 2018 98 122 online Underwood Patrick Steven Pfaff and Michael Hechter Threat Deterrence and Penal Severity An Analysis of Flogging in the Royal Navy 1740 1820 Social Science History 42 3 2018 411 439 Wilson Evan Particular skills Warrant officers in the Royal Navy 1775 1815 in A new naval history Manchester University Press 2018 Clowes William Laird Markham Clements Robert Sir Mahan Alfred Thayer Wilson Herbert Wrigley 1897 1903 The Royal Navy a history from the earliest times to present Vol I London Samson Low Marston Co Clowes William Laird Markham Clements Robert Sir Mahan Alfred Thayer Wilson Herbert Wrigley 1897 1903 The Royal Navy a history from the earliest times to present Vol II London Samson Low Marston Co Clowes William Laird Markham Clements Robert Sir Mahan Alfred Thayer Wilson Herbert Wrigley 1897 1903 The Royal Navy a history from the earliest times to present Vol III London Samson Low Marston Co Clowes William Laird Markham Clements Robert Sir Mahan Alfred Thayer Wilson Herbert Wrigley 1897 1903 The Royal Navy a history from the earliest times to present Vol IV London Samson Low Marston Co Clowes William Laird Markham Clements Robert Sir Mahan Alfred Thayer Wilson Herbert Wrigley 1897 1903 The Royal Navy a history from the earliest times to present Vol V London Samson Low Marston Co Clowes William Laird Markham Clements Robert Sir Mahan Alfred Thayer Wilson Herbert Wrigley 1897 1903 The Royal Navy a history from the earliest times to present Vol VI London Samson Low Marston Co Simms Brendan 2008 Three Victories and a Defeat The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire Penguin Books ISBN 9780465013326 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Navy Wikiquote has quotations related to Royal Navy Wikisource has original text related to this article Royal Navy Official website Sea Your History Royal Naval Museum List of sunken ships of the Royal Navy on the wrecksite Navy News Royal Navy NewspaperVideo clips Edit Royal Navy s channel on YouTube TwoSix Royal Navy Communication s channel on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Royal Navy amp oldid 1133228019, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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