Royal Navy
The
Royal Navy is the
navy of the
United Kingdom. It operates a number of aircraft carriers,
destroyers and frigates, fifteen nuclear submarines, and various other ships, as well as
aircraft and Britain's amphibious forces, the
Royal Marines.
History
The Royal Navy has historically played an extremely important role in the defence and warfare of England, and later Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the British Empire. Because Britain is an island and no point in the UK is more than 74 miles (120 km) from the sea, any enemy power (at least, pre-aircraft) would have to cross the sea to be able to attack the nation and any that achieved naval superiority would put the nation in great peril. Moreover, a strong navy was vital in maintaining the security of supply and communication links with distant locations in the Empire.
England's first navy was established by King Alfred, but soon fell into disrepair. The first reformation and major expansion of the Navy Royal, as it was then known, occurred during the reign of King Henry VIII whose ships the "Great Harry" and the "Mary Rose" engaged the French navy in a battle in the Solent in 1545. By the time of Henry’s death in 1547 his fleet had grown to 58 vessels. The second reformation was under Admiral Robert Blake during Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth.
The Naval Service didn't really exist until the mid 17th century when the Fleet Royal was taken under Parliamentary control following the defeat of Charles I in the English Civil War. The incorporation of the royal navy was in contrast to the land forces, which are descended from variety of different sources including both royal and anti-royal parliamentary forces.
Between 1690 and the beginning of World War I, the Royal Navy was the strongest navy in the world with almost uncontested power over the world's oceans. In that time, the Royal Navy suffered only one major defeat, at the Battle of the Chesapeake, and was able to defeat decisively all challengers, as at the Battle of Trafalgar. They did, however, lose numerous small engagements.
Life in the early Royal Navy, like in most armed forces of the time, was harsh and flogging was used to enforce discipline. The Navy also used the controversial practice of impressment where seamen were effectively kidnapped to serve on HM ships. This reached its peak in the 1700s and early 1800s.
During World War II, the Royal Navy played a vital role in keeping the UK supplied with food, arms and raw materials. See Battle of the Atlantic (1940). It was also vital in guarding the sea lanes that enabled Britain to fight in remote parts of the world such as North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Far East. Naval supremacy was vital to the amphibious operations carried out, such as the invasions of Northwest Africa, Sicily, Italy and Normandy. See British military history of World War II.
After World War II, the growing power of the United States and the retreat from empire reduced the role of the Royal Navy. The most important post-war operation conducted solely by the Royal Navy involved defeating Argentina in the Falkland Islands War.
In the latter stages of the Cold War, the Royal Navy was reconfigured with three ASW aircraft carriers and a force of small frigates and destroyers. Its purpose was to search for and destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic.
The Royal Navy also participated in the Gulf War, the Kosovo conflict, the Afghanistan Campaign and the 2003 Iraq War.
Nicknames include "The Mob", "The Andrew" and "The Senior Service", nicknames for British sailors include "Limeys". One point of pride of the Royal Navy is that it is known simply as "the Royal Navy", as most other navies include their national name. Another is the fact that the Royal Navy is considered the 'Senior Service' in the UK; the Army is technically older but because the Army once mutinied it is denied the title.
The formation of Royal Dockyards at London; Devonport in Plymouth; Portsmouth; Chatham; Rosyth...
The Napoleonic campaigns of the navy have been the subject of many novels including Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey, C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower, Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho.
HMS (acronym) = Her (or His) Majesty's Ship
Component and associated units of the Royal Navy
\n*Fleet Air Arm\n*Royal Marines\n*Royal Naval Reserve\n*Royal Naval College\n*Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Royal Navy Timeline
\n*1588 The Spanish Armada\n*1690
Battle of Beachy Head\n*1692
Battle of La Hougue\n*1759
Battle of Quiberon Bay\n*1780
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)\n*1781
Battle of the Chesapeake\n*1782
Battle of the Saintes\n*1794
The Glorious First of June\n*1797
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797)\n*1798
Battle of the Nile\n*1801
Battle of Copenhagen\n*1805
Battle of Trafalgar\n*1821 First steam paddle ships for auxiliary use (tugs etc)\n*1840 First screw driven Steamship, HMS Rattler\n*1905 First
Steam turbine battleship,
HMS Dreadnought (1906)\n*1914–1918
First Battle of the Atlantic\n*1914
Battle of Heligoland Bight,
Battle of Coronel,
Battle of the Falkland Islands\n*1916
Battle of Jutland\n*1939–1945
Second Battle of the Atlantic\n*1939
Battle of the River Plate\n*1940
Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk)\n*1941
Battle of Cape Matapan\n*1941 Sinking of
HMS Hood and the
Bismarck\n*1944
D-day invasion\n*1950
Korean War begins\n*1956
Suez campaign\n*1962 Indonesian
Konfrontasi begins in Borneo\n*1982
Falklands War\n*1991
Gulf War\n*1999
Kosovo conflict\n*2001
Afghanistan Campaign\n*2003
Iraq War
Famous sailors of the Royal Navy
\nIn approximate chronological order / seniority.\n*Francis Drake\n*
Robert Blake\n*
George Monck\n*
George Anson\n*
Edward Hawke\n*
Edward Boscawen\n*
George Rodney\n*
Richard Howe\n*
Samuel Barrington\n*
Samuel Hood\n*
Richard Kempenfelt\n*
John Jervis\n*
James Cook\n*
William Bligh\n*
James Vashon\n*
George Vancouver\n*
Horatio Nelson\n*
Charles Robert Malden\n*
Jackie Fisher\n*
Robert Falcon Scott\n*
John Jellicoe\n*
David Beatty\n*
Andrew Cunningham\n*James Somerville\n*Philip Vian\n*
Louis Mountbatten\n*
John "Sandy" Woodward
Famous ships of the Royal Navy
\nFor a full list, see List of Royal Navy ship names\n*
Mary Rose - sank in
1545 off
Portsmouth\n*
HMS Ark Royal - flagship of English Fleet against
Spanish Armada.\n*
HMS Bounty - scene of the mutiny.\n*
HMS Victory -
Nelson's flagship.\n*
HMS Beagle - carried
Charles Darwin on his voyage.\n*
HMS Warrior - first iron-clad warship\n*
HMS Dreadnought - first "all big-gun"
battleship\n*
HMS Warspite - fought at
Jutland and through the
Second World War\n*
HMS Hood -
battlecruiser destroyed by the
Bismarck\n*
HMS Vanguard - last battleship built for the Royal Navy\n*
HMS Dreadnought - first British nuclear-powered
submarine\n*
HMS Resolution - first British strategic ballistic missile submarine\n*
HMS Invincible - light
aircraft carrier currently in service
Weapons Systems
\n*Trident missile\n*
Polaris missile\n*Sea Dart missle\n*Sea Slug missile\n*
Sea Cat missile\n*
Sea Wolf missile\n*
Harpoon missile\n*4.5 inch Gun
See Also
\n* The Admiralty\n*
Comparative military ranks\n* Admiral\n*
Heart of oak -- A Royal Navy song\n*
Navy List\n*
Pink gin\n*
List of fleets (includes British fleets of the two World Wars)\n*
List of ships of the Royal Navy\n*
British Naval ensigns\n*
Department of Naval Intelligence\n*
British military history\n*
Royal Naval Division\n*
Standing Royal Navy Deployments\n*
The Royal Navy in the 21st Century\n*
UK topics
External link
\n*Official Website of the Royal Navy
\nCategory:Royal Navy
