Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force and a component of His Majesty's Naval Service. 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.

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 until the Second World War, it was the world's most powerful navy. 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, 11 frigates, 7 mine-countermeasure vessels and 26 patrol vessels. As of January 2024, there are 68 commissioned ships (including submarines as well as one historic ship, HMS Victory) in the Royal Navy, plus 13 ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). There are also five Merchant Navy ships available to the RFA under a private finance initiative, while the civilian Marine Services operate auxiliary vessels which further support the Royal Navy in various capacities. 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 and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. 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

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 mobilisation 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 a large fleet built by a national levy.[17] During the period of Danish rule in the 11th century, 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]

Age of Sail

A late 16th-century portrait of the Spanish Armada battling Royal Navy warships
HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, is still a commissioned Royal Navy ship, although she is now permanently kept in dry-dock.

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 British 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]

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 colonisation 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, and from its base in Bermuda it blockaded the Atlantic seaboard of the United States throughout the war and carried 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]

Splendid isolation

In 1860, Albert, Prince Consort, wrote to the Foreign Secretary John Russell, 1st Earl Russell with his concern about "a perfect disgrace to our country, and particularly to the Admiralty". The stated shipbuilding policy of the British monarchy was to take advantage of technological change and so be able to deploy a new weapons system that could defend British interests before other national and imperial resources are reasonably mobilized. Nevertheless, British taxpayers scrutinized progress in modernizing the Royal Navy so as to ensure, that taypayers' money is not wasted.[44]

Between 1815 and 1914, the Royal 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). These areas permitted Britain to control the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Control of military forces in Nova Scotia passed to the new Government of Canada after the 1867 Confederation of Canada and control of the naval dockyard in Halifax, Nova Scotia was transferred to the Government of Canada in 1905, five years prior to the establishment of the Royal Canadian Navy. 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, despite the growth of the Imperial Russian and United States Pacific fleets during the latter half of the 19th Century.[45][46] Britain relied 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. It relied on friendship and common interests between Britain and the United States (which controlled transit through the Panama Canal, completed in 1914) during and after the First World War, and on Bermuda, to project power the length of the western Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. The area controlled from Bermuda (and Halifax until 1905) had been part of the North America Station, until the 1820s, which then absorbed the Jamaica Station to become the North America and West Indies Station. After the First World War, this formation assumed control over the eastern Pacific Ocean and the western South Atlantic and was known as the America and West Indies Station until 1956.[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56] In 1921, the ambitions of Imperial Japan and the threat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, resulted in the decision to construct the Singapore Naval Base.[57]

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.[58] 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.[59] 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.[60] The transition at this time from coal to fuel-oil for boiler firing would encourage Britain to expand their foothold in former Ottoman territories in the Middle East, especially Iraq.[61]

Exploration

The routes of Royal Navy Captain James Cook's three voyages

The Royal Navy played an historic role in several great global explorations of science and discovery.[62] 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.[63]

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.[64] The Ross expedition to the Antarctic made several important discoveries in biology and zoology.[65] Several of the Royal Navy's voyages ended in disaster such as those of Franklin and Scott.[66] Between 1872 and 1876 HMS Challenger undertook the first global marine research expedition, the Challenger expedition.[67]

World War I

HMS Warspite and Malaya, seen from Valiant at the Battle of Jutland

During World War I, 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.[68] The British fighting advantage proved insurmountable, leading the High Seas Fleet to abandon any attempt to challenge British dominance.[69] The Royal Navy under John Jellicoe also tried to avoid combat and remained in port at Scapa Flow for much of the war.[70] 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.[71]

The Royal Navy nevertheless remained active in other theatres, most notably in the Mediterranean Sea, where they waged the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns in 1914 and 1915. British cruisers hunted down German commerce raiders across the world's oceans in 1914 and 1915, including the battles of Coronel, Falklands Islands, Cocos, and Rufiji Delta, among others.[72]

Interwar period

At the end of World War I, the Royal Navy remained by far the world's most powerful navy, 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.[73] 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.[74]

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 19th 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 1904. 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 World War I, 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. The rising power and increasing belligerence of the Japanese Empire after World War I, however, resulted in the construction of the Singapore Naval Base, which was completed in 1938, less than four years before hostilities with Japan did commence during World War II.[75]

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%.[76] 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.[77]

World War II

At the start of World War II in 1939, the Royal Navy was still the largest in the world, with over 1,400 vessels.[78][79] 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 neutralise the Home Fleet, but faced stiff resistance from the Royal Air Force.[80] 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.[81] 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.[82] 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.[83]

Cold War

After World War II, 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.[84]

In 1981, Defence Secretary John Nott had advocated and initiated a series of cutbacks to the Navy.[85] 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.[86]

Post-Cold War

Following the conclusion of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991, 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. A 2013 report found that the Royal Navy was already too small, and that Britain would have to depend on her allies if her territories were attacked.[87]

The financial costs attached to nuclear deterrence, including Trident missile upgrades and replacements, have become an increasingly significant issue for the navy.[88]

Assets and resources

Personnel

Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon

HMS Raleigh at Torpoint, Cornwall, is the basic training facility for newly enlisted ratings. Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon is the initial officer training establishment for the Royal Navy. Personnel are divided into a warfare branch, which includes Warfare Officers (previously named seamen officers) and Naval Aviators,[89] 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.[90]

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.[91] In 2023, it was reported that the Royal Navy was experiencing significant recruiting challenges with a net drop of some 1,600 personnel (4 percent of the force) from mid-2022 to mid-2023. This was posing a significant problem in the ability of the navy to meet its commitments.[92]

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.[93] 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.[94]

Surface fleet

Aircraft carriers

HMS Queen Elizabeth, a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, on sea trials in June 2017

The Royal Navy has two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. Each carrier cost £3 billion and displaces 65,000 tonnes (64,000 long tons; 72,000 short tons).[95] 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,[96] 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.[97][98][99][100][101] The aircraft carriers form a central part of the UK Carrier Strike Group alongside escorts and support ships.[102]

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.[103]

Clearance diving

The Royal Navy clearance diving unit, the Fleet Diving Squadron, was reorganised and renamed the Diving and Threat Exploitation Group in 2022. The group consists of five squadrons: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo.[104][105] The Royal Navy has a separate unit with divers the special forces unit the Special Boat Service.[106]

Escort fleet

HMS Duncan, the Type 45 guided missile destroyer
HMS Kent, the Type 23 frigate designed for anti-submarine warfare

The escort fleet comprises guided missile destroyers and frigates and is the traditional workhorse of the Navy.[107] As of April 2023 there are six Type 45 destroyers and 11 Type 23 frigates in commission. 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.[103]

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".[108] 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.[109]

Sixteen 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.[110] The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review announced that the remaining 13 Type 23 frigates would eventually be replaced by the Type 26 Frigate.[111] The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 reduced the procurement of Type 26 to eight with five Type 31e frigates to be procured.[112]

Mine countermeasure vessels (MCMV)

There are two classes of MCMVs in the Royal Navy: one Sandown-class minehunter and six Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels. All the Sandown-class vessels are to be withdrawn from service by 2025 and are being replaced by autonomous systems that are planned to operate from a range of vessels, including so-called "motherships" planned for procurement by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The Hunt-class vessels combine the separate roles of the traditional minesweeper and the active minehunter in one hull. If required, the vessels can take on the role of offshore patrol vessels.[113]

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.[114] 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.[115]

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.[116][117]

Survey ships

HMS Protector, a Royal Navy Antarctic patrol ship

HMS Protector is a dedicated Antarctica patrol ship that fulfils the nation's mandate to provide support to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).[118] HMS Scott is an ocean survey vessel and at 13,500 tonnes is one of the largest ships in the Navy. As of 2018, the newly commissioned HMS Magpie also undertakes survey duties at sea.[119] The Royal Fleet Auxiliary plans to introduce two new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ships, in part to protect undersea cables and gas pipelines and partly to compensate for the withdrawal of all ocean-going survey vessels from Royal Navy service.[120] The first of these vessels, RFA Proteus, entered service in October 2023.[121]

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) provides support to the Royal Navy at sea in several capacities. For fleet replenishment, it deploys one Fleet Solid Support Ship and six fleet tankers (two of which are maintained in reserve). The RFA also has one aviation training and casualty reception vessel, which also operates as a Littoral Strike Ship.[122][123]

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.[124] 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".[125]

In February 2023, a commercial vessel was also acquired to act as a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) Ship for the protection of critical seabed infrastructure and other tasks. She entered service as RFA Proteus.[126] An additional vessel, RFA Stirling Castle, was acquired in 2023 to act as a mothership for autonomous minehunting systems.[127]

Other ships

The Royal Navy also includes a number of smaller non-commissioned assets. 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.[128][129]

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",[130] 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.[131]

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, 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 this capability.[132][133]

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[134]). Two more Astute-class fleet submarines are scheduled to enter service by the mid-2020s while the remaining Trafalgar-class submarine will be withdrawn.[135]

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[136] 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.[134]

Fleet Air Arm

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.[137]

Pilots designated for rotary wing service train under No. 1 Flying Training School (1 FTS)[138] at RAF Shawbury.[139]

Royal Marines

Royal Marines in Sangin in Afghanistan 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.[140] The Royal Marines are organised into a highly mobile light infantry brigade (3 Commando Brigade) and 7 commando units[141] 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 Royal Navy's special forces unit the Special Boat Service (SBS).[142][106]

The Corps operates its own fleet of landing and other craft, and also incorporates the Royal Marines Band Service, the musical wing of the Royal Navy.[143]

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[144] and the Netherlands Marine Corps/Korps Mariniers.[145]

Naval bases

The Royal Navy currently uses three major naval 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 in 2006
HMS Vigilant alongside Faslane Naval Base
A Merlin HC3 and Wildcat AH1, both part of the Commando Helicopter Force, at RNAS Yeovilton
  • 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 Overseas Patrol Squadron.[147]
  • 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.[148][149]
  • RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) – Yeovilton is home to Commando Helicopter Force and Wildcat Maritime Force.[150]
  • 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.[151]
  • 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.[152]

Bases abroad

A Royal Navy Merlin HM2 at RNAS Culdrose

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.[163] These objectives are delivered via a number of core capabilities:[164]

Current deployments

The Royal Navy's presence in the Persian Gulf typically includes a Type 45 destroyer and a squadron of minehunters supported by an RFA Bay-class mothership.

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.[165]

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.[166][167]

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.[168] 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.[169] 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.[170][171]

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.[172] 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.[173]

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.[174][175] 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.[176] The UKCSG first assembled at sea in October 2020 as part of a rehearsal for its first operational deployment in 2021.[102]

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 centre around the two navy amphibious assault ships, amphibious auxiliary ships from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, elements from the Royal Marines and supporting units.[177]

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 remains vested in the Crown and held personally by the reigning Monarch (currently King Charles III).[178][179][180] The position had been held by Queen Elizabeth II from 1964 to 2011;[181] the Sovereign is the Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces.[182] 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.[183]

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.[184]

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.[185] 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.[186]

The Naval Command senior appointments are:[187][188]

Rank Name Position
Professional Head of the Royal Navy
Admiral Sir Ben Key First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff
Fleet Commander
Vice Admiral Andrew Burns Fleet Commander
Rear Admiral Edward Ahlgren Commander Operations
Rear Admiral Robert Pedre Commander United Kingdom Strike Force
Second Sea Lord & Deputy Chief of Naval Staff
Vice Admiral Martin Connell Second Sea Lord & Deputy Chief of Naval Staff
Rear Admiral James Parkin Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Capability) and Director Development
Rear Admiral Anthony Rimington Director Strategy and Policy
Rear Admiral Jude Terry Director People and Training / Naval Secretary
The Venerable Andrew Hillier Chaplain of the Fleet

The Commandant General Royal Marines was previously a major-general's post and charged with leading amphibious warfare operations. Since Lieutenant General Robert Magowan was appointed for the second time the post is an additional responsibility for a senior Royal Marine holding other duties. The current CG RM is General Gwyn Jenkins, the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.[189]

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.[190]

Locations

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

The Royal Navy historically has 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.[191] 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.[192]

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.[193] 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.[194]

The Royal Navy has historically maintained Royal Navy Dockyards around the world.[195] 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.[196] 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.[197]

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.[198]

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.[199]

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.[200][201][202]

Titles and naming

Of the Navy

Type 23 frigates, also known as "Duke class", are named after British dukes.

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.[203]

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.[204] The French Navy, despite France being a republic since 1870, is often nicknamed "La Royale" (literally: The Royal).[205]

Of ships

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'.[206]

Ranks, rates and 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).[207]

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[208] Admiral Vice admiral Rear admiral Commodore Captain Commander Lieutenant commander Lieutenant Sub-Lieutenant Midshipman Officer Cadet
Abbreviation: Adm. of the Fleet[nb 6] 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 7] 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

Queen Elizabeth II 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).[209]

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.[210]

"Jackspeak"

There are several less formal traditions including service nicknames and Naval slang, known as "Jackspeak".[211] The nicknames include "The Andrew" (of uncertain origin, possibly after a zealous press ganger)[212][213] and "The Senior Service".[214][215] 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.[214] 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.[216]

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.[217]
  • Combined Cadet Force – in schools, specifically the Royal Navy Section and the Royal Marines Section.[218]
  • Sea Cadets – supporting teenagers who are interested in naval matters, consisting of the Sea Cadets and the Royal Marines Cadets.[219]

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).[220]

In popular culture

The Royal Navy of the 18th century is depicted in many novels and several films dramatising the voyage and mutiny on the Bounty.[221] 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[222] and C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower chronicles.[223]

The Navy can also be seen in numerous films. The fictional spy James Bond is a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR).[224] The Royal Navy is featured in The Spy Who Loved Me, when a nuclear ballistic-missile submarine is stolen,[225] 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.[226] Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was based on Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.[227] The Pirates of the Caribbean series of films also includes the Navy as the force pursuing the eponymous pirates.[228] 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.[229]

C. S. Forester's Hornblower novels have been adapted for television.[230] The Royal Navy was the subject of the 1970s BBC television drama series, Warship,[231] and of a five-part documentary, Shipmates, that followed the workings of the Royal Navy day to day.[232]

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;[233] Sailor, about life on the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal;[234] and Submarine, about the submarine captains' training course, 'The Perisher'.[235] There have also been Channel 5 documentaries such as Royal Navy Submarine Mission, following a nuclear-powered fleet submarine.[236]

The BBC Light Programme radio comedy series The Navy Lark featured a fictitious warship ("HMS Troutbridge") and ran from 1959 to 1977.[237]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Royal Navy served the Commonwealth of England, as the Commonwealth Navy, 1644–1651
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^
    1630–1707
    Middle Ages – 1707
    1707–1800
  5. ^
    1545–1606
    Middle Ages – 1606
    1606–1800
  6. ^ The rank of Admiral of the Fleet has become an honorary/posthumous rank, war time rank; ceremonial rank; regular appointments ended in 1995.
  7. ^ This rank was phased out in 2014 but re-instated in 2021

References

  1. ^ Tittler, Robert; Jones, Norman L. (2008). A Companion to Tudor Britain. John Wiley & Sons. p. 193. ISBN 978-1405137409.
  2. ^ a b "Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 January 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  3. ^ "HMS Trent departs on her first deployment". Royal Navy. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  4. ^ Military Aircraft: Written question – 225369 (House of Commons Hansard) Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, parliament.uk, March 2015
  5. ^ "Navy's drone experts 700X NAS ready to deploy on warships". Royal Navy.
  6. ^ "705 Naval Air Squadron". Royal Navy.
  7. ^ Rose, Power at Sea, p. 36
  8. ^ Hyde-Price, European Security, pp. 105–106.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ Bennett, James C (2007). The Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty-first Century. United States: Rowman & 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
  11. ^ "What we do". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  12. ^ a b Childs, David (2009). Tudor Sea Power: The Foundation of Greatness. Seaforth Publishing. p. 298. ISBN 978-1473819924.
  13. ^ 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 978-0393319606.
  14. ^ S. Murdoch, The Terror of the Seas?: Scottish Maritime Warfare, 1513–1713 (Leiden: Brill, 2010), ISBN 90-04-18568-2, p. 10.
  15. ^ Rodger, Safeguard, pp. 52–53, 117–130.
  16. ^ Firth, Matthew; Sebo, Erin (2020). "Kingship and Maritime Power in 10th-Century England". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 49 (2): 329–340. Bibcode:2020IJNAr..49..329F. doi:10.1111/1095-9270.12421. ISSN 1095-9270. S2CID 225372506.
  17. ^ Swanton, p. 138.
  18. ^ Swanton, pp. 154–165, 160–172.
  19. ^ Stanton, Charles (2015). Medieval Maritime Wartime. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime. pp. 225–226.
  20. ^ Stanton, Charles D. (2015). Medieval Maritime Warfare. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1781592519.
  21. ^ Michel, F. (1840). Historie des Dues de Normandie et des Rois d'Angleterre. Paris. pp. 172–177.
  22. ^ Rodger, Safeguard, pp. 93–99.
  23. ^ Rodger, Safeguard, pp. 91–97, 99–116, 143–144.
  24. ^ P. F. Tytler, History of Scotland, Volume 2 (London: Black, 1829), pp. 309–310.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ A. Macquarrie, Medieval Scotland: Kinship and Nation (Thrupp: Sutton, 2004), ISBN 0-7509-2977-4, p. 153.
  27. ^ N. A. M. Rodger, The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain. Volume One 660–1649 (London: Harper, 1997) pp. 74–90.
  28. ^ Rodger, Safeguard, pp. 221–237.
  29. ^ Rodger, Safeguard, pp. 238–253, 281–286, 292–296.
  30. ^ Rodger, Safeguard, pp. 379–394, 482.
  31. ^ John Barratt, 2006, Cromwell's Wars at Sea. Barnsley, South Yorkshire; Pen & Sword; pp.
  32. ^ Rodger, Command, pp. 2–3, 216–217, 607.
  33. ^ 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.
  34. ^ Rodger, Command, pp. 142–152, 607–608.
  35. ^ Grant, James ed. The Old Scots Navy from 1689 to 1710. Navy Records Society,1914. p. 353: '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.'
  36. ^ Rodger, Command, p. 608.
  37. ^ Rodger, Command, pp. 291–311, 408–425, 473–476, 484–488.
  38. ^ Morison, Samuel Eliot (1965). The Oxford history of the American people. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-500030-7. OCLC 221276825.
  39. ^ Rodger, Command, pp. 277–283.
  40. ^ Rodger, Command, pp. 284–287.
  41. ^ Rodger, Command, pp. 351–352.
  42. ^ Parkinson, pp. 91–114; Rodger, Command, pp. 528–544.
  43. ^ 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.
  44. ^ Howard J. Fuller (2014). Empire, Technology and Seapower: Royal Navy Crisis in the Age of Palmerston. Taylor & Francis. p. 173-174. ISBN 9781134200450.
  45. ^ Colomb, F.S.S., F.R.G.S., and Fellow Royal Colonial Institute, Captain J. C. R. (1880). DEFENCE OF GREAT AND GREATER BRITAIN. 55, Charing Cross, London S.W.: Edward Stanford. Pages 60 to 63, CHAPTER III. COLONIAL DEFENCE.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ Colomb, F.S.S., F.R.G.S., and Fellow Royal Colonial Institute, Captain J. C. R. (1880). DEFENCE OF GREAT AND GREATER BRITAIN. 55, Charing Cross, London S.W.: Edward Stanford. Pages 125 and 126, CHAPTER IV. IMPERIAL AND COLONIAL WAR RESPONSIBILITIES.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  47. ^ Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1909). Responsible Government in The Dominions. London: Stevens and Sons Ltd. p. 5. Bermuda is still an Imperial fortress
  48. ^ May, CMG, Royal Artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edward Sinclair (1903). Principles and Problems of Imperial Defence. London and New York: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Limited, London; E. P. Dutton & 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  49. ^ Willock USMC, Lieutenant-Colonel Roger (1988). Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860–1920. Bermuda: The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. ISBN 978-0921560005.
  50. ^ Gordon, Donald Craigie (1965). The Dominion Partnership in Imperial Defense, 1870–1914. Baltimore, Maryland: 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.
  51. ^ 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).
  52. ^ 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.
  53. ^ 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 & Sons, Edinburgh and London. p. 111.
  54. ^ 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 & Co., Philadelphia; subsequently LR Hamersly, New York; BF Stevens & Brown, London. 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.
  55. ^ Dawson, George M.; Sutherland, Alexander (1898). MacMillan's Geographical Series: Elementary Geography of the British Colonies. London: MacMillan and Co., Limited, London; The MacMillan Company, New York. 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.
  56. ^ Sir Henry Hardinge, MP for Launceston (22 March 1839). "Suppy – Army Estimates". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 46. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 1141–1142.
  57. ^ Maurice-Jones, DSO, RA, Colonel KW (1959). History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army. UK: Royal Artillery Institution. p. 203. In any case, her decision to be prepared to resist Japanese ambitions in Eastern Asia-with or without American assistance-involved a challenge to Japanese naval power and thereby necessitate, in case of war, the presence of a British battle-fleet in Far Eastern waters. Such a fleet would require a base-in 1920 no British battle-fleet base existed east of Malta-and, while a fleet could be moved from Europe to the Far East in some two or three months, a fleet-base with all its docks, dockyards, shore installations, and defences required many years for its building. It was early in 1921 then that the British Government decided to construct such a base, and Singapore was chosen for its location.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  58. ^ "How did Britain come to rule the waves?". History Extra. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  59. ^ Sondhaus, p. 161.
  60. ^ Brown, Paul (January 2017), "Building Dreadnought", Ships Monthly: 24–27
  61. ^ Steiner, Zara (2005). The lights that failed : European international history, 1919–1933. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-151881-2. OCLC 86068902.
  62. ^ 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.
  63. ^ Franklin, Benjamin (1837). The works of Benjamin Franklin. Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason. pp. 123–24. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  64. ^ "HMS 'Beagle' (1820–70)". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  65. ^ Godbey, Holly (23 June 2017). "Recent Discovery of Wrecked HMS Terror, a Bombing Vessel From a Failed Arctic Expedition". War History Online.
  66. ^ Crane, D. (2005). Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage, and Tragedy in the Extreme South. London: HarperCollins. p. 409. ISBN 978-0007150687.
  67. ^ Rice, A. L. (1999). "The Challenger Expedition". Understanding the Oceans: Marine Science in the Wake of HMS Challenger. London: UCL Press. pp. 27–48. ISBN 978-1-85728-705-9.
  68. ^ Geoffrey Bennett, "The Battle of Jutland" History Today (June 1960) 10#6 pp 395–405.
  69. ^ "Distant Victory: The Battle of Jutland and the Allied Triumph in the First World War, p. xciv". Praeger Security International. July 2006. ISBN 9780275990732. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  70. ^ Hastings, Max (2013). Catastrophe 1914 : Europe goes to war. New York. ISBN 978-0-307-59705-2. OCLC 828893101.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  71. ^ Tuchman, Barbara W. (1994). The guns of August. New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-38623-X. OCLC 30087894.
  72. ^ "Sinking the German cruiser Konigsberg". National Archives. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  73. ^ Johnson, Paul (1991). Modern times : the world from the twenties to the nineties (Rev ed.). New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-433427-9. OCLC 24780171.
  74. ^ "The Washington Naval Conference, 1921–1922". Office of the historian. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  75. ^ Morris (1979), p. 453
  76. ^ "Respectful rebels: The Invergordon Mutiny and Granny's MI5 file". BBC. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  77. ^ Abraham, Douglas A. (2019). Underwater Acoustic Signal Processing: Modeling, Detection, and Estimation. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-92983-5.
  78. ^ "Royal Navy in 1939 and 1945". Naval-history.net. 8 September 1943. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  79. ^ "1939 – Navy lists". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  80. ^ "Battle of Britain | History, Importance, & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  81. ^ Roblin, Sebastien (20 October 2019). "How the Royal Navy Fought During the Battle of Britain (Yes, They Did)". The National Interest. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  82. ^ Baron, Scott; Wise, James E. (2004). Soldiers lost at sea: a chronicle of troopship disasters. Naval Institute Press. p. 100. ISBN 1-59114-966-5. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  83. ^ "Battle of the Atlantic". History Place. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  84. ^ Kennedy, 1989, pp. 570–571.
  85. ^ "We were heading for war...and the Commons blamed me". The Daily Telegraph. London. 1 March 2002. Archived from the original on 18 July 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  86. ^ "Polaris A1". Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  87. ^ Ingham, John (18 March 2013). "Royal Navy is now 'too small' to protect Britain". Express. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  88. ^ "Has the time come to the move the cost of Trident replacement out of the MoD budget?". Save the Navy. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  89. ^ "Welfate Officer". Royal Navy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  90. ^ "First woman wins Marines' green beret". The Telegraph. 1 June 2002. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  91. ^ "Strength of British military falls for ninth year". BBC News Online. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  92. ^ "Royal Navy failing to get enough recruits into basic training". Navy Lookout. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  93. ^ Ripley, Tim. "Admirals thrown to sharks as 'top-heavy' navy tries to cut costs". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  94. ^ "Royal Navy To Cut Back On Senior Personnel". Forces Network. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  95. ^ "HMS Queen Elizabeth". royalnavy.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  96. ^ "HMS Queen Elizabeth Successfully Completes Operational Sea Training". Overt Defense. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  97. ^ "Royal Navy Declares Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales Operational". 2 October 2021.
  98. ^ "Queen Elizabeth Due To Set Sail From Rosyth today". BBC News. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  99. ^ "Key facts about the Queen Elizabeth Class" (PDF). Aircraft Carrier Alliance. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  100. ^ "Iconic structure is installed on HMS Prince of Wales". Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  101. ^ "Commissioning day for HMS Prince of Wales". Royal Navy. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  102. ^ a b "UK Carrier Strike Group Assembles for the First Time". Royal Navy. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  103. ^ a b "Royal Navy arrives in British Virgin Islands bringing much-needed aid to the Hurricane Irma-ravaged territory". The Telegraph. 9 September 2017. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  104. ^ "Royal Navy divers transform to create new elite mission teams". Royal Navy (Press release). 1 March 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  105. ^ "Transformation of Fleet Diving Squadron into Diving & Threat Exploitation Group". Royal Naval Minewarfare and Clearance Diving Officers' Association (MCDOA). 1 February 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  106. ^ a b "Special Boat Service". National Army Museum. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  107. ^ "Royal Navy information". MOD. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  108. ^ Royal Navy: Type 45 Destroyer Archived 4 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 28 January 2014
  109. ^ "Type 45 Destroyer". BAE Systems. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  110. ^ "Type 23 Duke class – Helicopter Database". helis.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  111. ^ "Strategic Defence and Security Review – Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  112. ^ "National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015" (PDF). gov.uk. Cabinet Office. 23 November 2015.
  113. ^ "Echoes of a varied history – HMS Echo, ship of the month May 2004 (archive)". Navy News. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  114. ^ "River-Class Offshore Patrol Vessels, UK".
  115. ^ "Patrol Vessel". The Chagos Archipelago. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  116. ^ "HMS Forth Sets Sail For Falklands Deployment". Forces Network. 1 November 2019.
  117. ^ "HMS Clyde's last drive home for Christmas". Royal Navy. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  118. ^ "HMS Protector ready". Think Defence. 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  119. ^ "HMS Magpie (H130) | Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  120. ^ "Lima Charlie: New Royal Navy Ship That Will Safeguard The Internet". BFBS. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  121. ^ "A guide to RFA Proteus – the UK's new seabed warfare vessel". Navy Lookout. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  122. ^ "Royal Fleet Auxiliary | Royal Navy". Royal Navy.
  123. ^ "The oldest ship in the Royal Naval Service to become the new Littoral Strike Ship | Navy Lookout". www.navylookout.com. 20 July 2022.
  124. ^ "Australia to buy used UK landing ship". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 April 2011. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  125. ^ "Royal Navy unveils new Amphibious landing ships". Ministry of Defence. 6 October 2006. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  126. ^ "UK purchases commercial vessel for conversion to ocean surveillance ship; Navy Lookout". Navy Lookout | Independent Royal Navy News and Analysis. 17 January 2023.
  127. ^ "Mothership to support autonomous mine hunting systems arrives in the UK". Navy Lookout. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  128. ^ "Debut for UK Royal Navy's new experimental vessel". Jane's Information Group. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  129. ^ Parken, Oliver (29 July 2022). "Royal Navy Christens New Experimental Ship, The XV Patrick Blackett". The Drive. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  130. ^ "Royal Navy Submarine School". Royal Navy. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  131. ^ "MOD Awards £800m Contract For Submarine Propulsion Programme". Royal Navy. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  132. ^ a few days (6 February 2020). "HMS Audacious: 6 Feb 2020: Hansard Written Answers". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  133. ^ Knight, Will (5 December 2006). "UK unveils plans for a new submarine fleet". New Scientist (Environment). Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  134. ^ a b "Boris Johnson gives speech at BAE systems in Barrow - cumbriacrack.com". 31 August 2022.
  135. ^ Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic Defence and Security Review Archived 27 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine direct.gov.uk
  136. ^ "Royal Navy to Get New Attack Submarine". Royal Navy. 21 May 2007. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  137. ^ "First UK fighter jets land onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth". UK Ministry of Defence. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  138. ^ "RAF chief opens state of the art helicopter training facilities in Shawbury/". Shropshire Star. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  139. ^ "UK MoD begins training helicopter acquisition". Flight Global. 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  140. ^ Royal Marines home page Archived 6 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine on Royal Navy website
  141. ^ "Royal Marines". Royal Navy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  142. ^ "Special Boat Service". Royal Navy. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  143. ^ "The Band of HM Royal Marines Plymouth". Theatre Royal Plymouth. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  144. ^ "Royal Marines train in Californian desert". Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  145. ^ "Royal Netherlands Marine Corps | Royal Navy". Archived from the original on 29 April 2012.
  146. ^ "Trafalgar Class | Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  147. ^ "HMNB Portsmouth". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  148. ^ "HMNB Clyde". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  149. ^ "Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron | Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  150. ^ "New Navy Wildcat Helicopter Squadron commissions at RNAS Yeovilton". Royal Naval Association. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  151. ^ "RNAS Culdrose | Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  152. ^ Ripley, Tim (6 March 2020). "UK Royal Navy enhances Prestwick helicopter base". Jane's. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  153. ^ "New Royal Navy operations hub opens in Gulf". BIDEC 2019. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  154. ^ "Reborn Identity for Mine Countermeasure Squadron | Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  155. ^ HMS Lancaster [@HMSLANCASTER] (9 December 2022). "Port Crew have taken over from Starboard Crew on completion of HMS Lancaster's first crew rotation as the @RoyalNavy Forward Deployed T23 Frigate" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  156. ^ "HMS Montrose to become first forward-deployed frigate in the Middle East | Royal Navy". Royal Navy. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  157. ^ "Defence Secretary strengthens ties between UK and Oman". Ministry of Defence. 28 August 2017.
  158. ^ "Director of Overseas Bases". gov.uk. Ministry of Defence. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  159. ^ Graham, Euan (19 October 2021). "Reflections on the Royal Navy's Indo-Pacific engagement". International Institute for Strategic Studies. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  160. ^ ""FOI(A) regarding British Forces Gibraltar"" (PDF). What Do They Know. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022. The Royal Navy utilise HM Naval Base Gibraltar
  161. ^ "Gibraltar Squadron". Royal Navy. Retrieved 22 October 2020. With its rocky terrain and Mediterranean climate, the island is used primarily for training purposes and as a stopover for ships and aircraft on their way to or from Africa or the Middle East.
  162. ^ Childs (RN), Cdr J R (June 2021). "British Forces South Atlantic Islands East Cove Port Navigation Risk Assessment 2021" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  163. ^ "Joint operations". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  164. ^ "Core Capabilities". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  165. ^ "HMS Forth". Royal Navy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  166. ^ Cougar Archived 11 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Royal Navy. Retrieved on 18 September 2011.
  167. ^ Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Training and Adventure | Royal Navy ready for unforeseen global events Archived 13 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Mod.uk (20 February 2007). Retrieved on 18 September 2011.
  168. ^ Operations in the Gulf Archived 8 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Royal Navy. Retrieved on 18 September 2011.
  169. ^ United Kingdom Component Command UKMCC Archived 8 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Royal Navy (15 June 2010). Retrieved on 18 September 2011.
  170. ^ Commanding Officer Archived 8 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Royal Navy. Retrieved on 18 September 2011.
  171. ^ "CTF – Iraqi Maritime". Archived from the original on 9 January 2011.
  172. ^ Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) Archived 14 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Ukinmalaysia.fco.gov.uk (3 March 2009). Retrieved on 18 September 2011.
  173. ^ European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta Archived 6 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Eunavfor.eu. Retrieved on 18 September 2011.
  174. ^ Navy News (PDF) (October 2015 ed.). Royal Navy. p. 14.
  175. ^ Royal Navy Senior Appointments, 1865- (PDF). Royal Navy. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  176. ^ "Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement". Hansard. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  177. ^ "Understanding the Royal Navy's littoral response group concept". NavyLookout. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  178. ^ "A celebration of the King's Naval links in the West Country". Greatest Hits Radio. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023. Upon H.M the Queen's death, the title of Lord High Admiral, previously held by The Duke of Edinburgh (a gift for his 90th Birthday) and subsequently Her Majesty, has reverted back to the crown. Whilst the King may choose to grant the position to someone else, it is a position that he holds by default, as without a Lord High Admiral there can be no navy. As sovereign King Charles III now also holds the position of Admiral of the Fleet as his mother did before him.
  179. ^ "Lord High Admiral (Freedom of Information)" (PDF). WhatDoTheyKnow. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021. A search for the requested information has now been completed within the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and I can confirm that no information in scope of your request is held. [...] you may find it helpful to note that Her Majesty The Queen bestowed the appointment of Lord High Admiral on His Royal Highness (HRH) The Duke of Edinburgh, via Letters Patent, on his 90th Birthday (10 Jun 2011). As the title of Lord High Admiral is not hereditary and was resumed by the sovereign personally in 1964, upon the Death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh it will have been subsumed back into the Crown. As this title is personally held by Her Majesty, it is within her gift to decide if it remains with the Crown or if it will be awarded to another individual.
  180. ^ "Queen Elizabeth II: The naval college where the monarch met the duke". BBC. 17 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022. The Queen held the title of Lord High Admiral, which has now been passed to the King.
  181. ^ "New title for Duke of Edinburgh as he turns 90". BBC News. BBC. 10 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  182. ^ Parliament Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Speaker addresses Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 20 March 2012 ["The daily example that You set, mirrored by our courageous armed forces of which You are Commander-in-Chief, is extraordinary."]
  183. ^ MoD Website: people – First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff Archived 22 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 23 July 2013
  184. ^ "Allied Maritime Command – Standing Forces". NATO. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  185. ^ "Second Sea Lord". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  186. ^ "Who is the new Flag Officer Sea Training" (PDF). whatdotheyknow.com. Whatdotheyknow. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020. In response to your request, I can advise you that the title Flag Officer Sea Training will cease to exist on 1 May 2020 and is replaced by the 1* post of Commander Fleet Operational Sea Training
  187. ^ "Senior Naval Staff". Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  188. ^ "How Defence Works Version 6.0" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. UK Ministry of Defence. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  189. ^ "No. 63889". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 November 2022. p. 22839.
  190. ^ "Defence Intelligence: Roles". Ministry of Defence. 12 December 2012. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  191. ^ "The sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  192. ^ Watson, Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment 1947–2013:1. ROYAL NAVY ORGANISATION AND DEPLOYMENT FROM 1947". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 12 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  193. ^ "HMNB Devonport". The Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  194. ^ "3 Commando Brigade". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  195. ^ "Royal Navy Dockyards". National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  196. ^ Vice-Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham (13 March 2007). "The Royal Navy at the Brink" (PDF). 1. Royal United Services Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  197. ^ "Devonport 'secure' says minister". BBC. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  198. ^ "HMS Raleigh: history". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  199. ^ British Forces Post Office – Ship/unit numbers Archived 17 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine 4 February 2011
  200. ^ "UK-Bahrain sign landmark defence agreement". Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 5 December 2014. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  201. ^ "UK to establish £15m permanent Mid East military base". BBC News. 6 December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  202. ^ "East of Suez, West from Helmand: British Expeditionary Force and the next SDSR" (PDF). Oxford Research Group. December 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  203. ^ McLean, Samuel A. (4 May 2017). "The Westminster Model Navy: Defining the Royal Navy, 1660-1749" (PDF). Department of War Studies.
  204. ^ most books on the subject of the Royal Danish Navy
  205. ^ Randier, Jean (2006). La Royale : L'histoire illustrée de la Marine Nationale française. Babouji-MDV Maîtres du Vent. ISBN 978-2-35261-022-9.
  206. ^ "HMS Daring". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  207. ^ "The French Navy and the Men Who Commanded It: Captains Who Served in the French Navy during the period 1791–1815". Napoleon Series. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  208. ^ Shown with cipher of Elizabeth II
  209. ^ "Use of the Union Jack at Sea". Flags of the World. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  210. ^ "French top gun at Fleet Review". The Times. London. 26 June 2005. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
  211. ^ "Sailors' Dictionary". Gun Plot. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  212. ^ Admiralty Manual of Seamanship. HMSO. 1964.
  213. ^ "FAQs; Royal Navy's nickname". National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  214. ^ a b Jolly, Rick (2000). Jackspeak. Maritime Books. ISBN 0-9514305-2-1.
  215. ^ "Naval Slang". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  216. ^ "The Basic Rules of Uckers". Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  217. ^ "History". Volunteer Cadet Corps. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  218. ^ "Royal Navy". Combined Cadet Force. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  219. ^ "History". Sea Cadets. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  220. ^ "FOST Royal Navy". Royal Navy. MOD, 2017. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  221. ^ Mutiny on the Bounty at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  222. ^ Lavery, Brian (2003). Jack Aubrey Commands: An Historical Companion to the Naval World of Patrick O'Brian. Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-946-8.
  223. ^ "Horatio Hornblower". National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  224. ^ "25 things you probably didn't know about James Bond". IGN. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  225. ^ The Spy Who Loved Me at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  226. ^ Tomorrow Never Dies at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  227. ^ Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  228. ^ "Pirates of the Caribbean at IMDb". IMDb. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  229. ^ In Which we Serve at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  230. ^ Hornblower: The Even Chance at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  231. ^ "Warship". IMDB. 7 June 1973. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  232. ^ "Devon Shipmates on TV". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 March 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  233. ^ "Empire of the Seas: How the Navy Forged the Modern World". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  234. ^ "Sailor". YouTube. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  235. ^ "Perisher". YouTube. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  236. ^ "Royal Navy Submarine Mission". Channel 5. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  237. ^ "The Navy Lark". BBC Radio 4 Extra. BBC. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016.
  238. ^ "Who is the December Twelfth Killer?". Crime Monthly. PressReader.com. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  239. ^ Ryan, Mason (2021). The 100 Deadliest British Serial Killers. BookRix. p. 210. ISBN 9783748796350.

Bibliography

  • Chet, Guy (2014). The Ocean is a Wilderness: Atlantic Piracy and the Limits of State Authority, 1688–1856. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-1625340856.
  • Clodfelter, Micheal (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015. McFarland & Co Inc. ISBN 978-0786474707.
  • Grimes, Shawn T. (2012). Strategy and War Planning in the British Navy, 1887–1918. Boydell. ISBN 978-1846158179.
  • Harding, Richard (2005). The Royal Navy 1930–2000: Innovation and Defence. Frank Cass. ISBN 978-0203337684.
  • Howard, David Armine (2003). British Sea Power: How Britain Became Sovereign of the Seas. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0786712496.
  • Hyde-Price, Adrian (2007). European Security in the Twenty-First Century: The Challenge of Multipolarity. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1134164400.
  • Kennedy, Paul (1989). The Rise and Fall of Great Powers. London: Fontana. ISBN 978-0049090194.
  • Morris, Jan (1979). Farewell the Trumpets. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140049282.
  • Nelson, Arthur (2001). The Tudor navy: the ships, men and organisation, 1485–1603. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0851777856.
  • Potter, E. B. (1984). Sea Power: A Naval History. Naval Institute press. ISBN 978-0870216077.
  • Rodger, N.A.M. (1997). The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660–1649. Vol. 1. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0006388401.
  • Rodger, N.A.M. (2004). The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815. Vol. 2. Penguin. ISBN 978-0141026909.
  • Rose, Lisle A. (2006). Power at Sea: The Breaking Storm, 1919–1945. Vol. 2. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0826216946.
  • Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415214780.
  • Stanton, Charles (2015). Medieval Maritime Wartime. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime. pp. 225–226.
  • Willmott, H. P. (2009). The Last Century of Sea Power: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894–1922. Vol. I. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253352149.
  • Willmott, H. P. (2010). The Last Century of Sea Power: From Washington to Tokyo, 1922–1945. Vol. 2. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253353597.
  • Wilson, Ben (2013). Empire of the Deep: the rise and fall of the British Navy. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297864080.
  • Winfield, R. (2007). British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1844157006.

Further reading

  • Benbow, Tim (2018). The Royal Navy and Sea Power in British Strategy, 1945–55 (pdf) (Thesis). Vol. 91 (online scan ed.). King's College London. pp. 375–398.
  • Brown, D. K.; Moore, George (2012). Rebuilding the Royal Navy: Warship Design Since 1945. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1848321502.
  • 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 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

Video clips