Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the "senior service" of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. From approximately 1692 until World War II, the Royal Navy was the largest and most powerful navy in the world. The navy helped establish the United Kingdom as the dominant military and economic power of the 18th and 19th century, and was essential for maintaining the British Empire. Although the Royal Navy is now much smaller, it remains the largest Western European navy, the second largest navy in the world in terms of gross tonnage, and one of the world's most technologically advanced. It formed the basis for most other navies with few exceptions, and masses of sailors from Commonwealth and Friendly Navies attend Royal Naval Training Programmes in Britain. The end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union has precipitated a restructuring of the Royal Navy's role as a major naval player in the Twenty-first century, from that of a deterrence force to a navy capable of extending British foreign policy worldwide.

Famous ships of the Royal Navy

For a full list, see List of Royal Navy ship names

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Mary Rose — sank in 1545 off Portsmouth
• Ark Royal — flagship of English Fleet against the Spanish Armada. As of 2005, the current Ark Royal is an Invincible-class aircraft carrier that saw action in the 2003 Iraq conflict
• Bounty — scene of the famous mutiny.
• Victory — Nelson's flagship. This ship is still officially in service and is the world's oldest commissioned warship.
• Beagle — carried Charles Darwin on his voyage.
• Warrior — first ironclad warship
• Dreadnought — first "all big-gun" battleship
• Warspite — fought at Jutland and through the Second World War
• Hood — battlecruiser destroyed by the Bismarck
• Vanguard — last battleship built for the Royal Navy
• Dreadnought — first British nuclear-powered submarine
• Resolution — first British strategic ballistic missile submarine
• Invincible — light aircraft carrier
• Conqueror — nuclear attack submarine, responsible for the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War.