Royal Navy

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The Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest part of the British fighting forces. Because it is the oldest, it is called the "Senior Service". From the 1700s until WWII it was the bigest and strongest navy in the world. The Royal Navy was very important in making Britain the superpower of that time.

During the Cold War, the Royal Navy mainly focused on hunting for Soviet submarines which were most active in the North Atlantic Ocean, the ocean near England. With the fall of the USSR, the Royal Navy focuses of deep sea exploration.

Today the Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the world in terms of gross tonnage (weight and size of all their ships). The Royal Navy has 90 ships including aircraft carriers, submarines, minesweepers and patrol vessels as well as the ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. All ships in the Royal Navy are called "Her Majesty's ships", because by constitution the Queen owns them and has command over them.

The Naval Service comprises the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and reserve forces. The Naval Service had 39,400 people as of April 2006.


[edit] Purpose

The Royal Navy protects Britain with military, diplomatic and other activities. The Royal Navy also does a lot of work for NATO.

The main jobs of the Royal Navy are:

  • Maintenance of the UK Nuclear Deterrent through a policy of Continuous at Sea Deterrence
  • Delivery of the UK Commando force
  • Contribution of assets to the Joint Harrier Force
  • Contribution of assets to the Joint Helicopter Command
  • Patrol areas the UK is responsible for:
    • Atlantic Patrol Task (North)
    • Atlantic Patrol Task (South)
    • Persian Gulf patrols
  • Removal of mines
  • Sea Exploration,weather research and other science projects
  • Protection of UK and EU fishing


[edit] Organization

The Royal Navy was formed by direct order of the king. This concept is called "Royal Prerogative" in English Law. Because of this Royal Prerogative, members of the navy don't need to swear loyalty to the king or queen (the army and the air force do. The official head of the Royal Navy is the Lord High Admiral, who happens to be Queen Elizabeth II.

Below her is First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, is a member of the Defence Council and the Admiralty Board. The Navy Board is below Admiralty Board and is responsible for running Navy. Their offices are in the Ministry of Defence Main Building in London.

Full Command of all deployable Fleet units including the Royal Marines and the Fleet Auxiliary is delegated to Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, is below the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band and is the one actually controling the Royal Navy as well as the Royal Marines and the Fleet Auxiliary with a Command Headquarters at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth and an Operational Headquarters at Northwood, Middlesex, co-located with the Permanent Joint Headquarters and a NATO Regional Command, Allied Maritime Component Command Northwood. CINCFLEET is dual hatted as Commander AMCCN.

CINC is supported by:

  • Second Sea Lord, based in HMS Excellent, Principal Personnel Officer for the Naval Service. Also Rear Admiral Fleet Air Arm.
  • Deputy CINC, based in HMS Excellent, who commands the HQ

Commander Operations, based at Northwood, responsible for operational command of RN assets.

  • Rear Admiral Submarines and Commander Submarine Allied Forces North (NATO)

Commander UK Maritime Forces, the deployable Force Commander responsible for the Maritime Battle Staffs; UK Task Group, UK Amphibious Task Group, UK Maritime Component Command. Commander UK Amphibious Force/ Commandant General Royal Marines The three Naval Bases; Portsmouth, Clyde and Plymouth each host 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.

The purpose of CINCFLEET is to provide ships and submarines and commando forces at readiness to conduct military and diplomatic tasks as required by the UK government, including the recruitment and training of personnel.

Significant numbers of naval personnel are employed within the Ministry of Defence, Defence Logistics Organisation, Defence Procurement Agency and on exchange with the Army and Royal Air Force. Small numbers are also on exchange within other government departments.

In earlier times the office of Lord High Admiral was delegated to a naval officer. The office later came to be frequently put into commission, during which time the Royal Navy was run by a board headed by the First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1964 the functions of the Admiralty were transferred to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Defence Council of the United Kingdom. Since then, the historic title of Lord High Admiral has been restored to the Sovereign.