Royal Navy
150px
Active	15th century – present
Country	Kingdom of England (until 1707)  Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1922-present)
Allegiance	HM The Queen
Type	Navy
Size	98 ships including RFA 170 aircraft of the FAA
Part of	British Armed Forces
Naval Staff Offices	Ministry of Defence Main Building, Whitehall
Motto	Latin: Si vis pacem, para bellum If you wish for peace, prepare for war
Colours	Red and White
March	"Heart of Oak"
Commanders
Lord High Admiral	HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, OM, GBE, AC, QSO, CD, PC, AdC(P)
First Sea Lord	Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, GCB, OBE
Commander-in-Chief Fleet	Admiral George Zambellas, DSC
Second Sea Lord	Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, CBE
Insignia
White Ensign (Until 1707)
White Ensign (1707-1800)
White Ensign (1801 – present)
Naval Jack
Aircraft flown
Attack	Lynx
Patrol	Merlin, Lynx, Sea King ASaC.7
Trainer	Tutor, Hawk,
Transport	Sea King

Naval Service of the British Armed Forces
Components
Royal Navy Surface fleet Fleet Air Arm Submarine Service Royal Naval Reserve Royal Navy Medical Service Nursing Service (QARNNS) Royal Fleet Auxiliary Royal Navy Police Royal Marines Royal Marines Reserve Special Boat Service
History and future
History of the Royal Navy History of the Royal Marines Customs and traditions Future of the Royal Navy
Ships
Current fleet Current deployments Historic ships
Personnel
The Admiralty Senior officers Uniforms Officer rank insignia Ratings rank insignia
Civilian agencies
Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service (now privatised)
v t e

The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Tracing its origins to the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service. From the end of the 17th century until well into the 20th century it was the most powerful navy in the world,^[1] playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power.

Following victory in the First World War the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size,^[2] although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the largest in the world. By the end of the Second World War the U.S. Navy had emerged as the world's largest. During the course of the Cold War and the emergence of the Soviet submarine threat, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union its focus has returned to global expeditionary operations.

The Royal Navy operates a fleet of technologically sophisticated ships including an aircraft carrier (though without any fixed-wing aircraft), a helicopter carrier, two landing platform docks, four ballistic missile submarines (which maintain the UK's nuclear deterrent), seven nuclear fleet submarines, six guided missile destroyers, 13 frigates, 15 mine-countermeasure vessels and 24 patrol vessels. As of April 2012, there were 79 commissioned ships in the Royal Navy, plus 19 commissioned ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) which also contribute to the Royal Navy's available sea-going assets. The RFA primarily serves to replenish Royal Navy warships at sea, and also augments the Royal Navy's amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay-class landing ship dock vessels.

The Royal Navy is part of the Naval Service, which also comprises the Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Marines Reserve. 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.

History[link]

Development of England's navy[link]

900–1500[link]

The strength of the fleets of the united Kingdom of England was an important element in the kingdom's power in the 10th century.^[3] At one point Aethelred II had an especially large fleet built by a national levy of one ship for every 310 hides of land, but it is uncertain whether this was a standard or exceptional model for raising fleets.^[4] During the period of Danish rule in the 11th century the authorities maintained a standing fleet by taxation, and this continued for a time under the restored English regime of Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–1066), who frequently commanded fleets in person.^[5]

The Battle of Sluys

English naval power seems to have declined as a result of the Norman conquest.^[6] Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into naval service in time of war. From time to time a few "king's ships" owned by the monarch were built for specifically warlike purposes, but 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.^[7]

With the Viking era at an end, and conflict with France largely confined to the French lands of the English monarchy, England faced little threat from the sea during the 12th and 13th centuries, but in the 14th century the outbreak of the Hundred Years War dramatically increased the French menace. Early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340.^[8] Major fighting was thereafter confined to French soil and England's naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. However, while subsequent French invasion schemes came to nothing, England's naval forces could not prevent frequent raids on the south-coast ports by the French and their Genoese and Castilian allies; such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V^[9] Rodger calls Edward III's own claim to be the "Sovereign of the Seas" into question, arguing there was hardly any Royal Navy before the reign of Henry V (1413-22). Rodger also argues that for much of the fourteenth century, the French had the upper hand, apart from Sluys in 1340 and, perhaps, off Winchelsea in 1350.^[10] (reigned 1413–1422).

1500–1707[link]

The standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, was created in the 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII.^[11] Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, which saw privately-owned ships combining with the Navy Royal in highly profitable raids against Spanish commerce and colonies.^[12] In 1588 Philip II of Spain sent the Spanish Armada against England in order to end English support for Dutch rebels, to stop English corsair activity and to depose the Protestant Elizabeth I. The Spaniards sailed from Lisbon, planning to escort an invasion force from the Spanish Netherlands but the plan failed due to poor planning, English harrying, blocking action by the Dutch and mainly as a result of an extremely bad weather.^[13] Rodger argues that the defeat of the Armada created an English national "myth of sea-power," which shaped public opinion and helped the crown privilege the role of the Navy into the 1790s. He says this myth told Englishmen that patriotic and ever-victorious English sea-power would produce liberty, financial profit and, especially, victory for Protestantism in its battles with Catholic France and Spain. Public opinion was highly receptive, especially among the rural gentry, who supported funding for the navy and sent their best young men off to be officers. The elder Pitt made the "myth" come true in the Seven Years War.^[14]

Victory over the Spanish Armada.

During the early 17th century England's relative naval power deteriorated and a new threat emerged from the slaving raids of the Barbary corsairs, which the Navy had little success in countering.^[15] Charles I undertook a major programme of warship building, creating a small force of powerful ships, but his methods of fund-raising to finance the fleet contributed to the outbreak of the English Civil War.^[16] In the wake of this conflict and the abolition of the monarchy, the new Commonwealth of England, isolated and threatened from all sides, dramatically expanded the Navy, which became the most powerful in the world.^[17]

The new regime's introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic.^[18] In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654), the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive.^[19] English tactical improvements resulted in a series of crushing victories in 1653 at Portland, the Gabbard and Scheveningen, bringing peace on favourable terms.^[20] This was the first war fought largely, on the English side, by purpose-built, state-owned warships.

As a result of their defeat in this war, the Dutch transformed their navy on the English model, and the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667) was a closely fought struggle between evenly-matched opponents, with a crushing English victory at the Battle of Lowestoft (1665) countered by Dutch triumph in the epic Four Days Battle (1666).^[21] In 1667 the restored royal government of Charles II of England was forced to lay up the fleet in port for lack of money to keep it at sea, while negotiating for peace. Disaster followed, as the Dutch fleet mounted the Raid on the Medway, breaking into Chatham Dockyard and capturing or burning many of the Navy's largest ships at their moorings,^[22] which resulted in the most humiliating defeat in the Royal Navy's history.^[23] In the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674), Charles II allied with Louis XIV of France against the Dutch, but the combined Anglo-French fleet was fought to a standstill in a series of inconclusive battles, while the French invasion by land was warded off.^[24]

The Dutch Raid on the Medway in 1667 during the Second Anglo–Dutch War.

The influence and reforms of Samuel Pepys, the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both Charles II and subsequently King James II, were important in the early professionalisation of the Royal Navy.^[25]

During the 1670s and 1680s the Navy succeeded in permanently ending the threat to English shipping from the Barbary corsairs, inflicting defeats which induced the Barbary states to conclude long-lasting peace treaties.^[26] Following the Glorious Revolution, England joined the European coalition against Louis XIV in the War of the Grand Alliance (1688–1697) in alliance with the Dutch. The allies were defeated at Beachy Head (1690), but victory at Barfleur-La Hogue (1691) was a turning-point marking the end of France's brief pre-eminence at sea and the beginning of an enduring English, later British, supremacy.^[27]

In the course of the 17th century the Navy completed the transition from a semi-amateur Navy Royal fighting in conjunction with private vessels into a fully professional institution, a Royal Navy. Its financial provisions were gradually regularised, it came to rely on dedicated warships only, and it developed a professional officer corps with a defined career structure, superseding an earlier mix of sailors and socially prominent former soldiers.^[28] Under the Acts of Union in 1707 the three-ship Royal Scots Navy merged with that of England to create a Royal Navy of the new Kingdom of Great Britain.

Development of the British navy[link]

1707–1815[link]

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

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the Royal Navy was the largest in the world, but until 1805 its forces were repeatedly matched or exceeded in numbers by a combination of enemies.^[29] Despite this it was able to maintain an almost uninterrupted ascendancy over its rivals through superiority in financing, tactics, training, organization, social cohesion, hygiene, dockyard facilities, logistical support and, from the middle of the 18th century, warship design and construction.^[30]

During the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1714), the Navy operated in conjunction with the Dutch against the navies of France and Spain. Naval operations in European waters focused on the acquisition of a Mediterranean base, contributing to a long-lasting alliance with Portugal in 1703 and the capture of Gibraltar (1704) and Minorca (1708), which were both retained by Britain after the war, and on supporting the efforts of Britain's Austrian Habsburg allies to seize control of Spain and its Mediterranean dependencies from the Bourbons. French naval squadrons did considerable damage to English and Dutch commercial convoys during the early years of the war. However a major victory over France and Spain at the Battle of Vigo Bay (1702), further successes in battle, and the scuttling of the entire French Mediterranean fleet at Toulon in 1707 virtually cleared the Navy's opponents from the seas for the latter part of the war. Naval operations also enabled the conquest of the French colonies in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.^[31] Further conflict with Spain followed in the War of the Quadruple Alliance, in which the Navy helped thwart a Spanish attempt to regain Sicily and Sardinia from Austria and Savoy, defeating a Spanish fleet at Cape Passaro, and an undeclared war in the 1720s in which Spain tried to retake Gibraltar and Minorca.

After a period of relative peace, the Navy became engaged in the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–1742) against Spain, which was dominated by a series of costly and mostly unsuccessful attacks on Spanish ports in the Caribbean, chiefly at Battle of Cartagena de Indias. In 1742 the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was driven to withdraw from the war in half an hour by the threat of a bombardment of its capital Naples by a small British squadron. The war was quickly followed by the wider War of the Austrian Succession (1744–1748), again pitting Britain against France. Naval fighting in this war, which for the first time included major operations in the Indian Ocean, was largely inconclusive, the most significant event being the failure of an attempted French invasion of England in 1744.^[32] The subsequent Seven Years War (1755–1763) saw the Navy conduct amphibious campaigns leading to the conquest of French Canada, French colonies in the Caribbean and West Africa and small islands off the French coast, while operations in the Indian Ocean contributed to the destruction of French power in India.^[33] A new French attempt to invade Britain was thwarted by the extraordinary Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, fought in a gale on a dangerous lee shore. Once again the French navy was effectively eliminated from the war, abandoning major operations.^[34] In 1762 the resumption of hostilities with Spain led to the British capture of Havana, along with a Spanish fleet sheltering there, and Manila.^[35]

The Battle of the Saintes. On the right the French flagship, the Ville de Paris, in action against HMS Barfleur.

In the American Revolutionary War, the small Continental Navy of frigates fielded by the rebel colonists was obliterated with ease, but the entry of France, Spain and the Netherlands into the war against Britain produced a combination of opposing forces which deprived the Navy of its position of superiority for the first time since the 1690s, briefly but decisively. The war saw a series of indecisive battles in the Atlantic and Caribbean, in which the Navy failed to achieve the conclusive victories needed to secure the supply lines of British forces in North America and cut off the colonial rebels from outside support.^[36] The most important operation of the war came in 1781 when in the Battle of the Chesapeake the British fleet failed to lift the French blockade of Lord Cornwallis's army, resulting in Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown.^[37] Although this disaster effectively concluded the fighting in North America, it continued in the Indian Ocean, where the French were prevented from re-establishing a meaningful foothold in India, and in the Caribbean. Victory there in the Battle of the Saintes in 1782 and the relief of Gibraltar later the same year symbolised the restoration of British naval ascendancy, but this came too late to prevent the independence of the Thirteen Colonies.^[38]

The eradication of scurvy from the Royal Navy in the 1790s was finally due to the chairman of the Navy's Sick and Hurt Board, Gilbert Blane, who finally put Bachstrom and Lind's long-ignored prescription of fresh lemons to use during the Napoleonic Wars. Other navies soon adopted this successful solution.^[39] During the 18th century, scurvy killed more British sailors than enemy action.^[40] For instance, during the Seven Years War, the Royal Navy reported that it conscripted 184,899 sailors, of whom 133,708 died of disease or were 'missing', and scurvy was the principal disease.^[41] Limey, a Caribbean and North American slang term for British sailors and later the British in general, is believed to derive from the practice.

The Wars of the French Revolution (1793–1801) and Napoleonic Wars (1803–1814 and 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. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy reached a strength of 600 cruisers (including 175 ships of the line) and some smaller vessels, becoming the size of the rest of the world's navies combined. The Navy achieved an emphatic early victory at the Glorious First of June (1794), and gained a number of smaller victories while supporting abortive Royalist efforts to regain control of France. In the course of one such operation the majority of the French Mediterranean fleet was captured or destroyed during a short-lived occupation of Toulon in 1793.^[42] The military successes of the French Revolutionary regime brought the Spanish and Dutch navies into the war on the French side, but the losses inflicted on the Dutch at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 and the surrender of their surviving fleet to a landing force at Den Helder in 1799 effectively eliminated the Dutch navy from the war.^[43] The Spithead and Nore mutinies in 1797 incapacitated the Channel and North Sea fleets, leaving Britain potentially exposed to invasion, but were rapidly resolved.^[44] The British Mediterranean fleet under Nelson failed to intercept Napoleon Bonaparte's 1798 expedition to invade Egypt, but annihilated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile, leaving Bonaparte's army isolated.^[45] The emergence of a Baltic coalition opposed to Britain led to an attack on Denmark, which lost much of its fleet in the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) and came to terms with Britain.^[46]

The Battle of Trafalgar, depicted here in its opening phase.

During these years the Navy also conducted amphibious operations which captured most of the French Caribbean islands and the Dutch colonies at the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon and in the Dutch East Indies, but all of these gains except Ceylon and Trinidad were returned following the Peace of Amiens in 1802, which briefly halted the fighting.^[47] War resumed in 1803 and Napoleon, now ruling France as emperor, attempted to assemble a large enough fleet from the French and Spanish squadrons blockaded in various ports to cover an invasion of England. The Navy frustrated these efforts and, following the abandonment of the invasion plan, the combined Franco-Spanish fleet which had been gathered was smashed by Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).^[48] This victory marked the culmination of decades of developing British naval dominance, and left the Navy in a position of uncontested hegemony at sea which endured until the early years of the 20th century.

After Trafalgar, large-scale fighting at sea was limited to the destruction of small, fugitive French squadrons and amphibious operations which again captured the colonies which had been restored at Amiens, along with France's Indian Ocean base at Mauritius.^[49] In 1807 French plans to seize the Danish fleet led to a pre-emptive British attack on Copenhagen, resulting in the surrender of the entire Danish navy.^[50] The impressment of British and American sailors from American ships contributed to the outbreak of the War of 1812 (1812–1814) against the United States, in which the naval fighting was largely confined to commerce raiding and single-ship actions.^[51] The brief renewal of war after Napoleon's return to power in 1815 did not bring a resumption of naval combat.^[52]

During this period, the Royal Navy imposed a blockade on France and Spain, and swept French and Spanish merchantmen off the high seas. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars, the French were unable to contest the British blockade, and enemy warships spent much of the wars blockaded in port. During the War of 1812, the Royal Navy's Halifax Squadron blockaded the American coastline, largely ruining trade. The Royal Navy also fought a number of single-ship actions, and guarded convoys against American privateers.

1815–1914[link]

Between 1815 and 1914 the Navy saw little serious action, owing to the absence of any opponent strong enough to challenge its dominance. 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.

HMS Warrior, the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship

Due 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. 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.

HMS Dreadnought

The first major action that the Royal Navy saw during this period was the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816 by a joint Anglo-Dutch fleet under Lord Exmouth, to force the Barbary pirate state of Algiers to free Christian slaves and to halt to the practice of enslaving Europeans. During the Greek War of Independence, the combined navies of Britain, France and Russia defeated an Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Navarino in 1827, the last major action between sailing ships. During the same period, the Royal Navy took anti-piracy actions in the South China Sea.^[53] Between 1807 and 1865, it maintained a Blockade of Africa to counter the illegal slave trade. It also participated in the Crimean War of the 1850s, as well as numerous imperialist military actions and wars throughout Asia and Africa, notably the Opium Wars with China. On 27 August 1896, it took part in the Anglo-Zanzibar War, which was the shortest war in history.

The end of the 19th century saw structural changes brought about by the First Sea Lord (Chief of Naval Staff) Jackie Fisher who retired, scrapped, or placed into reserve many of the older vessels, making funds and manpower available for newer ships. He also oversaw the development of HMS Dreadnought. Dreadnought was the first battleship with a main battery of large-caliber guns, and its steam turbine engine made it the fastest battleship in the world. The battleship rendered all existing battleships obsolete, and its name came to be associated with an generation of battleships, the dreadnoughts. Unlike the far more dramatic technological revolutions of the mid-19th century, this opportunity was exploited to mount a serious challenge to British naval supremacy, and started a naval arms race. The industrial and economic development of Germany had by this time overtaken Britain, and made use of its industrial power to build up the Imperial German Navy, which became the world's second-largest navy. The British responded by expanding the Royal Navy. Britain emerged from this contest triumphant, in as much as it was able to maintain a substantial numerical advantage over Germany, but for the first time since 1805, another navy now existed with the capacity to challenge the Royal Navy in battle.

1914–1945[link]

During the two World Wars, the Royal Navy played a vital role in keeping the United Kingdom supplied with food, arms and raw materials and in defeating the German campaigns of unrestricted submarine warfare in the first and second battles of the Atlantic.

During the First World War most of the Royal Navy's strength was deployed at home in the Grand Fleet, confronting the German High Seas Fleet across the North Sea. A few inconclusive clashes took place between them, chiefly the Battle of Jutland in 1916. These exposed the deficiencies of a British approach to capital ship design which prioritised speed and firepower, as against the German emphasis on resilience, as well as the inadequacies of Britain's hastily-assembled munitions industry. However, the Germans were repeatedly outmaneuvered and the British numerical advantage proved insurmountable, leading the High Seas Fleet to abandon its challenge to British dominance.

Elsewhere in the world, the Navy hunted down the handful of German surface raiders at large. During the Dardanelles Campaign against the Ottoman Empire in 1915 it suffered serious losses during a failed attempt to break through the system of minefields and shore batteries defending the straits.

Upon entering the First World War, the British immediately established a blockade of Germany. The Navy's Northern Patrol closed off access to the North Sea, while the Dover Patrol closed off access to the English Channel. The Navy also mined the North Sea. As well as attempting to close off the Imperial German Navy's access to the Atlantic, the blockade was also designed to stop merchant shipping heading to or from Germany. The blockade was maintained eight months after the war had ended in order to force Germany to sign the Treaty of Versailles.^[54]

The most serious menace faced by the Navy came from the attacks on merchant shipping mounted by German U-boats. For much of the war this submarine campaign was restricted by prize rules requiring merchant ships to be warned and evacuated before sinking. In 1915 the Germans renounced these restrictions and began to sink merchant ships on sight, but later returned to the previous rules of engagement to placate neutral opinion. A resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 raised the prospect of Britain and its allies being starved into submission. The Navy's response to this new form of warfare had proved inadequate due to its refusal to adopt a convoy system for merchant shipping, despite the demonstrated effectiveness of the technique in protecting troop ships. The belated introduction of convoys sharply reduced losses and brought the U-boat threat under control.

HMS Ark Royal.

In the inter-war period the Royal Navy was stripped of much of its power. The Washington and London Naval Treaties imposed scrappings of capital ships and limitations on new construction. In 1932 the Invergordon Mutiny took place over a proposed 25% pay cut which was eventually reduced to 10%. International tensions increased in the mid-1930s and the Second London Naval Treaty of 1935 failed to halt the development of a naval arms race. By 1938 treaty limits were effectively ignored. The re-armament of the Royal Navy was well under way by this point; the Royal Navy had begun construction of still treaty affected and undergunned new battleships and its first full-sized purpose-built aircraft carriers. In addition to new construction, several existing old battleships (whose gun power offset to a significant extent the weakly armed new battleships), battlecruisers and heavy cruisers were reconstructed, and anti-aircraft weaponry reinforced, while new technologies such as ASDIC, Huff-Duff and hydrophones were developed. The Navy had lost control of naval aviation when the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force in 1918, but regained it with the establishment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. However, the effectiveness of its aircraft lagged far behind its rivals, and around this time the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy began to surpass the Royal Navy in power.

British battlecruiser HMS Hood

At the start of World War II in 1939, the Royal Navy was still the largest in the world, consisting of 15 battleships and battlecruisers with 5 under construction, 7 aircraft carriers, 66 cruisers with 23 more under construction, 184 destroyers with 52 under construction, 45 escort and patrol vessels with 9 under construction and 1 on order, and 60 submarines with 9 under construction.^[55] During the early phases of World War II the Royal Navy provided critical cover during British evacuations from Dunkirk. At the Battle of Taranto, Admiral Cunningham commanded a fleet that launched the first all-aircraft naval attack in history. Later Cunningham was determined that as many Commonwealth soldiers as possible should be evacuated after their defeat on Crete. When army generals feared he would lose too many ships, he famously said, "It takes the Navy three years to build a new ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation will continue."^[56]

The Royal Navy suffered huge losses in the early stages of the war, including HMS Courageous, HMS Glorious, and HMS Hood in the European Theatre, and HMS Hermes, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales in the Asian Theatre. Of the 1,418 men on the Hood, only three survived.^[57] Over 3,000 people were lost when the converted troopship Lancastria was sunk in June 1940, creating the greatest maritime disaster in Britain's history.^[58] There were, however, early successes against enemy surface ships, at the Battle of the River Plate in 1939, and off Norway; by 1941, with the sinking of the Bismarck, Germany effectively lost her surface ship capabilities. As well as providing cover in operations, it was also vital in guarding the sea lanes that enabled British forces to fight in remote parts of the world such as North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Far East. Naval supremacy in the Atlantic was vital to the amphibious operations carried out, such as the invasions of Northwest Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Normandy. Royal Navy ships also provided an important role in escorting convoys across the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, and to other countries on the allied side, protecting them from air, surface and submarine attack. The German battleship Scharnhorst was one capital ship sunk while trying to attack an allied convoy in 1943.

Postwar period and early 21st century[link]

After World War II the decline of the British Empire and the economic hardships in Britain at the time forced the reduction in the size and capability of the Royal Navy. The increasingly powerful U.S. Navy took on the former role of the Royal Navy as global naval power and police force of the sea. However, the combination of the threat of the Soviet Union, and Britain's commitments throughout the world, created a new role for the Navy. Governments since World War II have had to balance commitments with increasing budgetary pressures, partly due to the increasing cost of weapons systems, what historian Paul Kennedy called the Upward Spiral. These pressures have been exacerbated by bitter inter-service rivalry.

HMS Illustrious, an Invincible-class aircraft carrier.

HMS Dreadnought, the Royal Navy's first nuclear submarine, was launched in the 1960s. The navy also received its first nuclear weapons with the introduction of the first of the Resolution-class submarines armed with the Polaris missile. The introduction of Polaris followed the cancellation of the GAM-87 Skybolt missile which had been proposed for use by the Air Force's V bomber force. By the 1990s the navy became responsible for the maintenance of the UK's entire nuclear arsenal. The financial costs attached to nuclear deterrence became an increasingly significant issue for the navy.

The Navy began plans to replace its fleet of aircraft carriers in the mid-1960s. A plan was drawn up for three large aircraft carriers, each displacing about 60,000 tons; the plan was designated CVA-01. These carriers would be able to operate the latest aircraft that were coming into service, and would keep the Royal Navy’s place as a major naval power. The new Labour government that came into power in the mid-1960s was determined to cut defence expenditure as a means to reduce public spending, and in the 1966 Defence White Paper the project was cancelled.^[59] The navy was forced to make do with three much smaller Invincible-class aircraft carriers. The fleet was now centred around anti-submarine warfare in the north Atlantic as opposed to its former position with worldwide strike capability.

HMS Vanguard of the current Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines.

One of the most important operations conducted predominantly by the Royal Navy after the Second World War was the 1982 defeat of Argentina in the Falkland Islands War. Despite losing four naval ships and other civilian and RFA ships the Royal Navy fought and won a battle over 8,000 miles (12,000 km) from Great Britain. HMS Conqueror is the only nuclear-powered submarine to have engaged an enemy ship with torpedoes, sinking the cruiser ARA General Belgrano. The war also underlined the importance of aircraft carriers and submarines and exposed the weaknesses of the service's late 20th century dependence on chartered merchant vessels.

The decline in warship numbers since 1980.

Before the Falklands War Defence Secretary John Nott had advocated and initiated a series of cutbacks to the Navy.^[60] The Falklands War though, 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 Royal Navy also took part in the Gulf War, the Kosovo conflict, the Afghanistan Campaign, and the 2003 Iraq War, the last of which saw RN warships bombard positions in support of the Al Faw Peninsula landings by Royal Marines. In August 2005 the Royal Navy rescued seven Russians stranded in a submarine off the Kamchatka peninsula. The Navy's Scorpio 45 remote-controlled mini-sub freed the Russian submarine from the fishing nets and cables that had held it for three days. The Royal Navy was also involved in an incident involving Somali pirates in November 2008, after the pirates tried to capture a civilian vessel.

Today[link]

Personnel[link]

As of 1 November 2011, the Royal Navy numbered 36,640 personnel^[61] and 2,300 Royal Naval Reserve (Volunteer Reserve).^[62] Both of these figures include the Royal Marines and Royal Marines Reserve. In addition there were 19,600 Regular Reserves.^[63]

HMS Raleigh at Torpoint, Cornwall is the basic training facility for newly enlisted personnel. Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment for the navy, located at Dartmouth, Devon.

Personnel are divided into a general duties branch, which includes those seamen officers eligible for command, and other branches including the Royal Naval Engineers, medical, and Logistics Officers, the renamed Supply Officer branch. Present day officers and ratings have several different Royal Navy uniforms; some are blue, others are white.

HMS Bulwark, an Albion-class landing platform dock

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. The only restriction on women currently in the RN is that they may not serve on submarines, or with the Royal Marine Commandos.

Surface fleet[link]

In the 1990s the navy began a series of projects to modernise the fleet and convert it from a North Atlantic-based anti-submarine force to an expeditionary force. This has involved the replacement of much of the fleet and has seen a number of large procurement projects.^[64]

Large fleet units – amphibious and carriers[link]

HMS Ocean: the Royal Navy's dedicated helicopter carrier.

There is a dedicated helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean and two amphibious assault ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark (the present flagship of the fleet).^[65] HMS Illustrious is the sole remaining Invincible-class carrier and has replaced Ocean as the helicopter carrier until Illustrious is withdrawn in 2014.^[66] Following the retirement of the Harrier II aircraft, there are no fixed-wing aircraft serving upon Royal Navy ships.

The introduction of the four vessels of the Bay class of landing ship dock into the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 2006 and 2007, and the two Albion-class landing platform docks gave the Royal Navy greater amphibious capability. In November 2006 First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band said, "These ships represent a major uplift in the Royal Navy's war fighting capability."^[67] One Bay-class ship was sold to Australia in 2011.^[68]

Two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers have been ordered^[69][70][71] and are to be a new generation of aircraft carrier to replace the Invincible-class. The two vessels are expected to cost £3.9 billion, will displace 65,000 tons and are planned to enter service from around 2016. Both are intended to operate the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II. One of the ships may be placed in "extended readiness" to provide a continuous single carrier strike capability when the other is in refit or to provide the option to regenerate more quickly a two carrier strike ability. Alternatively the second ship may be sold with "cooperation with a close ally to provide continuous carrier-strike capability".^[72]

Escort units[link]

HMS Dauntless: the second Type 45 guided missile destroyer

The escort fleet, in the form of frigates and destroyers, is the traditional workhorse of the Navy,^[73] and is also being updated. As of April 2012^[update] there are six destroyers and 13 frigates in active service.

The fleet of Type 42 destroyers, of which two remain in service, is being replaced with the much larger Type 45 destroyer. Six Type 45 destroyers are planned, of which four are in service, one is waiting to enter service and one is under construction as of 2012^[update].^[74][75] Under the terms of the original contract the Navy was to have ordered twelve vessels,^[76] but following cut backs only six will now be constructed.^[77][78] The primary role of the Type 45 destroyer is anti-air warfare; in order to fulfil this role, it is equipped with the Sea Viper (formerly known as PAAMS) integrated anti-aircraft system which can fire Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. The Type 45 operates the highly sophisticated Sampson radar system, fully integrated into the PAAMS system.^[77]

There are 13 Type 23 frigates in service, with the final vessel, HMS St Albans, commissioned in June 2002. On 21 July 2004, in the Delivering Security in a Changing World review of defence spending, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that three frigates of the fleet of sixteen would be paid off as part of a continuous cost-cutting strategy, and these were subsequently sold to Chile.

Several designs have been proposed for a new generation frigate, including the Future Surface Combatant, which is now planned to enter service as the Type 26 frigate. The Strategic Defence and Security Review of October 2010 stated "As soon as possible after 2020 the Type 23 will be replaced by Type 26 frigates, designed to be easily adapted to change roles and capabilities depending on the strategic circumstances". It proposed a total surface escort fleet of 19 frigates and destroyers^[79] .

Mine countermeasure, patrol and survey vessels[link]

HMS Protector: a Royal Navy Antarctic patrol ship.

At the beginning of the 1990s the Royal Navy had two classes of offshore patrol vessel, the Island class, and the larger Castle class. However, in 1997 a decision was taken to replace them. An order for three much larger offshore patrol vessels, the River class was placed in 2001. Unusually, the three River-class ships are owned by Vosper Thorneycroft, and leased to the Royal Navy until 2013. This relationship is defined by a ground-breaking Contractor Logistic Support contract which contracts the ships' availability to the RN, including technical and stores support. A modified River-class vessel, HMS Clyde, was commissioned in July 2007 and became the Falkland Islands guardship. The Royal Navy also has the Sandown-class minehunter and the Hunt-class mine countermeasure vessel. The Hunt class of 8 vessels are mine countermeasure vessels that combine the separate role of the traditional minesweeper and that of the active minehunter in one hull. If required, they can take on the role of offshore patrol vessels. The Royal Navy has a mandate to provide support to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which comes in the form of the dedicated Antarctic Patrol Ship HMS Endurance. The four Hecla-class vessels were replaced by the survey vessel HMS Scott which surveys the deep ocean. The other survey vessels of the Royal Navy are the two multi-role ships of the Echo class which came into service in 2002 and 2003.

Submarines[link]

HMS Astute: the first Astute class nuclear submarine.

The Royal Navy Submarine Service consists of seven fleet submarines (SSNs), of the Trafalgar and Astute classes, and four ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), of the Vanguard class. All of the Royal Navy's submarines are nuclear powered.

Six Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered fleet submarines remain in commission. Seven Astute-class submarines are planned to replace them, with the first in service, one waiting to enter service, three under construction, the sixth ordered, and the procurement process started for the seventh as of 2012.^{[80][81][82][83]} The first, HMS Astute entered service in August 2010.^[84] These submarines are much larger than the Trafalgar class boats and displace 7,800 tons submerged.^[85]

The Royal Navy also operates four Vanguard class ballistic missile submarines. Armed with Trident II missiles, these provide the sole platforms for the nuclear weapons of the United Kingdom. In December 2006, the Government published recommendations for a new class of four ballistic missile submarines to replace the Vanguard class, which is due to be replaced by 2024. This proposed new class would mean that the United Kingdom would maintain a nuclear ballistic missile submarine fleet and the ability to launch nuclear weapons.^[86]

Fleet Air Arm[link]

The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters. Helicopters such as the Lynx and Westland Wasp have been deployed on smaller vessels since 1964, taking over the roles once performed by biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish.

Royal Marines[link]

Royal Marines on exercise.

The Royal Marines are a maritime-focused, amphibious, highly specialised light infantry force.^[87] They are capable of deploying at short notice in support of the United Kingdom Government's military and diplomatic objectives overseas. The Royal Marines are organised into a light infantry brigade, 3 Commando Brigade, and a number of separate units. These include the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines (previously the Comacchio Group), a special guard and oil rig guard force, the Special Boat Service, a maritime special forces unit, and an assault craft unit, 1 Assault Group Royal Marines, which supervises landing craft on board the amphibious ships and landing craft training.

Current role[link]

Royal Navy EH-101 Merlin at RIAT 2009

The current role of the Royal Navy (RN) is to protect British interests at home and abroad, executing the foreign and defence policies of Her Majesty's Government through the exercise of military effect, diplomatic activities and other activities in support of these objectives. The RN is also a key element of the UK contribution to NATO, with a number of assets allocated to NATO tasks at any time.^[88] These objectives are delivered via a number of core capabilities:^[89]

• Maintenance of the UK Nuclear Deterrent through a policy of Continuous at Sea Deterrence.
• Provision of two medium scale maritime task groups with organic air assets.
• Delivery of the UK Commando force.
• Contribution of assets to the Joint Helicopter Command.
• Maintenance of standing patrol commitments.
• Provision of Mine Counter Measures capability to UK and allied commitments.
• Provision of Hydrographic and meteorological services deployable worldwide.
• Protection of the UK and EU's Exclusive Economic Zone.

Current deployments[link]

See Standing Royal Navy deployments

The Royal Navy is currently deployed in many areas of the world, including a number of 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 and until 2010 had the now disbanded Royal Navy Cyprus Squadron. In both the North and South Atlantic RN vessels are patrolling. There is always a Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel on deployment, currently the new vessel HMS Clyde.

The F-35B will replace the Harrier aboard the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, which will replace the Invincible-class aircraft carriers.
(The pictured aircraft is not an F-35B)

In the Persian Gulf, the RN sustains a number of 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 the Gulf region. The Royal Navy also contributes heavily to the combined maritime forces in the Gulf in support of coalition operations.^[90] The UK Maritime Component Commander (UKMCC), overseer of all UK warships in the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters, is also deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces.^[91]

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 diverse 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 will see them transit through the Mediterranean where they will take part in multinational amphibious exercises before moving further east through the Suez Canal for further exercises in the Indian Ocean.^[92][93]

The Royal Navy has been responsible for training the fledging 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 (CTF) Iraqi Maritime, a Royal Navy commodore, has been responsible for the latter.^[94][95]

Operation Atalanta, the European Unions 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.^[96]