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.

The Royal Navy today

The Royal Navy is currently deployed in many areas of the world.

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Atlantic Patrol Task (North)

Atlantic Patrol Task (North) is normally carried out by a single warship and/or RFA vessel in the Caribbean during the hurricane season from May to November.

Related Topics:
Atlantic Patrol Task (North) - Warship - RFA - Hurricane

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Atlantic Patrol Task (South)

Atlantic Patrol Task (South) constitutes the RN's considerable commitment to the South Atlantic and West African areas which is comprised of single warship accompanied by an RFA vessel. Additionally, a vessel is permanently deployed as the Falkland Islands Guardship. This invariably tends to be a Castle-class patrol vessel. Also, Endurance is deployed for half the year as an Ice Patrol Ship.

Related Topics:
Atlantic Patrol Task (South) - West Africa - Warship - RFA - Falkland Islands Guardship - Castle-class - ''Endurance'' - Ice Patrol Ship

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UK waters

In UK waters, the protection of fishery areas and offshore gas and oil installations is provided by the Fishery Protection Squadron. This is comprised of the new River-class patrol vessels, with a varying number of Hunt-class minesweepers that rotate fishery protection duties with their mine counter measures work. The Northern Ireland Squadron exists to deter the movement of material to Northern Ireland which could be used to support terrorist activities there. Additionally a Fleet Ready Escort (FRE), made up of a single warship to provide a rapid response at short notice for a variety of tasks required of the vessel and a ready aircraft carrier flagship and escort vessels are available for one-off deployments.

Related Topics:
Fishery - Gas - Oil - Fishery Protection Squadron - River-class - Hunt-class - Minesweeper - Northern Ireland Squadron - Northern Ireland - Terrorist - Fleet Ready Escort - Warship - Flagship

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Gulf

The RN also maintains a significant presence in the Persian Gulf. Currently, a single warship and a supporting RFA vessel is on patrol as part of Operation Oracle and the Armilla Patrol, another aspect of the UK's contribution to the War on Terror. This vessel is also available for tasking anywhere East-of-Suez.

Related Topics:
Persian Gulf - Warship - Patrol - Operation Oracle - Armilla Patrol - War on Terror

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Far East

Though a permanent RN presence in the Far East and Pacific regions has ended, the RN is able to deploy a significant Naval Task Group (NTG) for task specific operations and commonly deploys approximately every three years as part of the Five Powers Defence Arrangements (FPDA). Recent Far East Naval Task Groups

Related Topics:
Far East - Naval Task Group - Five Powers Defence Arrangements - Recent Far East Naval Task Groups

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NATO Standing Naval Force

The RN also has a substantial commitment to NATO. The UK normally provides a single warship to the NATO Response Force, part of the Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED). The RN also usually provides a Mine Countermeasures vessel to Mine Countermeasures Force (North) and Mine Countermeasures Force (South), both important permanent NATO squadrons. At all times the RN also deploys a Vanguard class submarine SSBN to maintain the British nuclear deterrent.

Related Topics:
NATO - Warship - NATO Response Force - Standing Naval Force Atlantic - Standing Naval Force Mediterranean - Mine - Countermeasure - Mine Countermeasures Force (North) - Mine Countermeasures Force (South) - Vanguard class submarine - SSBN

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Names

Nicknames for the Royal Navy include "The Mob", "The Andrew", and "The Senior Service", while nicknames for British sailors include "Limeys" and "Jacktars" (as in "every man-jack of 'em"), also they are sometimes reffered to as "Matelots" (pronounced 'matlos'), after the French word for sailor.

Related Topics:
Nickname - Sailor - Limey - Jacktar

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The Royal Navy is simply as "the Royal Navy" in English, Commonwealth navies include their national name. However, there are other navies, such as the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy) which are also simply called the "Royal Navy" in their own language.

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The Napoleonic campaigns of the navy have been the subject of many novels including Patrick O'Brian's series featuring Jack Aubrey, C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower, and Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho.

Related Topics:
Patrick O'Brian - Jack Aubrey - C.S. Forester - Horatio Hornblower - Alexander Kent - Richard Bolitho

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