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133-608: In the 1783 Treaty of Versailles , the boundary points of the French Shore were changed to Cape St. John and Cape Ray , as shown in the accompanying map, with France being granted exclusive rights. In 1904, as a result of the Entente Cordiale , the French relinquished their rights on the French Shore against territorial changes in Africa. The history of the French Shore is depicted on

266-460: A Royal Navy captain, has been responsible for the former duty whilst Commander Task Force Iraqi Maritime, a Royal Navy commodore, was responsible for the latter. The mission ended in May 2011. The financial costs attached to nuclear deterrence, including Trident missile upgrades and replacements, have become an increasingly significant issue for the navy. HMS  Raleigh at Torpoint, Cornwall ,

399-593: 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. Owing 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

532-472: A fleet of technologically sophisticated ships, submarines, and aircraft, including 2 aircraft carriers , 2 amphibious transport docks , 4 ballistic missile submarines (which maintain the nuclear deterrent ), 6 nuclear fleet submarines , 6 guided missile destroyers , 9 frigates , 7 mine-countermeasure vessels and 26 patrol vessels . As of May 2024, there are 66 commissioned ships (including submarines as well as one historic ship, HMS  Victory ) in

665-800: A force multiplier for the Royal Navy, often doing patrols that frigates used to do. The Royal Navy is part of His Majesty's Naval Service, which also includes the Royal Marines and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord who is an admiral and member of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom . The Defence Council delegates management of

798-471: A gradual decline in its fleet size in accordance with the changed strategic environment it operated in. While new and more capable ships are continually brought into service, such as the Queen Elizabeth -class aircraft carriers , Astute -class submarines , and Type 45 destroyers , the total number of ships and submarines operated has continued to steadily reduce. This has caused considerable debate about

931-469: A heavy reliance upon impressed labour. This would result in problems countering large, well-armed United States Navy frigates which outgunned Royal Naval vessels in single-opponent actions, as well as United States privateers, when the American War of 1812 broke out concurrent with the war against Napoleonic France and its allies. The Royal Navy still enjoyed a numerical advantage over the former colonists on

1064-449: A horrific disaster. The French had done all they could to help the Spanish achieve their essential war aim, and began serious discussions on alternative exit strategies, urging Spain to offer Britain some very large concessions in return for Gibraltar. Although the fortress still remained under siege, there was no serious threat from the French and Spanish forces after Richard Howe had relieved

1197-819: A national institution and not a possession of the Crown as it had been before. Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, England joined the War of the Grand Alliance which marked the end of France 's brief pre-eminence at sea and the beginning of an enduring British supremacy which would help with the creation of the British Empire. In 1707, the Scottish navy was united with the English Royal Navy. On Scottish men-of-war,

1330-683: A navy, this meant the French landed at Sandwich unopposed in April 1216. John's flight to Winchester and his death later that year left the Earl of Pembroke as regent, and he was able to marshal ships to fight the French in the Battle of Sandwich in 1217 – one of the first major English battles at sea. The outbreak of the Hundred Years War emphasised the need for an English fleet. French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed

1463-538: A peak of efficiency, dominating the navies of all Britain's adversaries, which spent most of the war blockaded in port. Under Lord Nelson , the navy defeated the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar (1805). Ships of the line and even frigates, as well as manpower, were prioritised for the naval war in Europe, however, leaving only smaller vessels on the North America Station and other less active stations, and

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1596-504: A precedent that successful Parliamentary votes of " no confidence " would automatically force a Prime Minister to resign). The king's choice as replacement, Lord Shelburne (who, though an old friend of Benjamin Franklin , had initially stated in February that he "would never consent, under any possible given circumstances, to acknowledge the independency of America") refused the post, leading to

1729-607: A precondition for negotiation, as they were aware that the French government was nearly bankrupt, and that the British reinforcements sent to the West Indies might well reverse the situation there at any moment (the fleet was commanded by Admiral Rodney , who had returned to England from the Caribbean on sick-leave just before the French fleet there sailed north to blockade Yorktown; he also faced numerous expensive lawsuits over his looting of

1862-424: A range of vessels, including so-called "motherships" planned for procurement by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The Hunt-class vessels combine the separate roles of the traditional minesweeper and the active minehunter in one hull. If required, the vessels can take on the role of offshore patrol vessels. A fleet of eight River-class offshore patrol vessels are in service with the Royal Navy. The three Batch 1 ships of

1995-465: A single force. During the early 17th century, England's relative naval power deteriorated until Charles I undertook a major programme of shipbuilding. His methods of financing the fleet contributed to the outbreak of the English Civil War , and the abolition of the monarchy . The Commonwealth of England replaced many names and symbols in the new Commonwealth Navy, associated with royalty and

2128-448: 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. Control of the sea only became critical to Anglo-Saxon kings in the 10th century. In the 11th century, Aethelred II had a large fleet built by a national levy. During the period of Danish rule in the 11th century, authorities maintained a standing fleet by taxation, and this continued for

2261-633: A third seemingly at the mercy of the French Navy ), and of the Mediterranean base on Menorca in February. The opposition in Parliament then began tabling motions alleging that Great Britain had no confidence in its government; the first of these was rejected by just 10 votes, another a week later by 9 votes. Hours before yet another such vote was due, on 20 March, the government leader, Lord North , persuaded King George III to accept his resignation (this set

2394-785: A time under Edward the Confessor , who frequently commanded fleets in person. After the Norman Conquest , English naval power waned and England suffered large naval raids from the Vikings. In 1069, this allowed for the invasion and ravaging of England by Jarl Osborn, brother of King Svein Estridsson , and his sons. The lack of an organised navy came to a head during the First Barons' War , in which Prince Louis of France invaded England in support of northern barons. With King John unable to organise

2527-580: A vote that the independence of the United States should be accepted without preconditions, but in the light of Rodney's victory and the consequent French weakness, this was rejected (though the news that a combined Spanish and American fleet had forced the surrender to Spain of the Bahamas arrived in Britain at about this time). On 1 July, Lord Rockingham, the figurehead leader of the government, died, so Shelburne

2660-577: A western border; the existing area of the thirteen States was already about as large as France and Spain combined, and the proposed border would double that. In particular, Spain's territories in Louisiana and the newly reconquered West Florida would be severely threatened if the American trend of economic growth based on expanded land holdings continued. The situation of the American Indians in these lands

2793-564: Is one of the largest ships in the Navy. As of 2018, the newly commissioned HMS  Magpie also undertakes survey duties at sea. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary plans to introduce two new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ships , in part to protect undersea cables and gas pipelines and partly to compensate for the withdrawal of all ocean-going survey vessels from Royal Navy service. The first of these vessels, RFA Proteus , entered service in October 2023. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) provides support to

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2926-562: Is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and the Royal Navy describe the destroyer's mission as "to shield the Fleet from air attack". They are equipped with the PAAMS (also known as Sea Viper) integrated anti-aircraft warfare system which incorporates the sophisticated SAMPSON and S1850M long range radars and the Aster 15 and 30 missiles. Sixteen Type 23 frigates were delivered to

3059-579: Is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom , British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies , and a component of His Majesty's Naval Service . Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France . The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the English Navy of

3192-752: Is the submarine based element of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes referred to as the " Silent Service ", as the submarines are generally required to operate undetected. Founded in 1901, the service made history in 1982 when, during the Falklands War, HMS  Conqueror became the first nuclear-powered submarine to sink a surface ship, ARA  General Belgrano . Today, all of the Royal Navy's submarines are nuclear-powered . The Royal Navy operates four Vanguard -class ballistic missile submarines displacing nearly 16,000 tonnes and equipped with Trident II missiles (armed with nuclear weapons ) and heavyweight Spearfish torpedoes , to carry out Operation Relentless,

3325-752: Is the basic training facility for newly enlisted ratings. Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon is the initial officer training establishment for the Royal Navy. Personnel are divided into a warfare branch , which includes Warfare Officers (previously named seamen officers) and Naval Aviators , as well other branches including the Royal Naval Engineers , Royal Navy Medical Branch , and Logistics Officers (previously named Supply Officers ). Present-day officers and ratings have several different uniforms ; some are designed to be worn aboard ship, others ashore or in ceremonial duties. Women began to join

3458-468: Is the traditional workhorse of the Navy. As of May 2024 there are six Type 45 destroyers and 9 Type 23 frigates in commission. Among their primary roles is to provide escort for the larger capital ships—protecting them from air, surface and subsurface threats. Other duties include undertaking the Royal Navy's standing deployments across the globe, which often consists of: counter-narcotics, anti-piracy missions and providing humanitarian aid. The Type 45

3591-463: Is to conduct amphibious warfare, they have also been deployed for humanitarian aid missions. Both vessels were in reserve as of 2024 and in November 2024, the newly elected Labour government indicated that they would in fact be retired from service completely by March 2025. While second-line amphibious capabilities remained within the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the future of the navy's amphibious capability

3724-515: The American War of Independence . The United States was allied to France , and the Netherlands and Spain were also at war with Britain. In the Battle of the Chesapeake , the British fleet failed to lift the French blockade, resulting in the surrender of an entire British army at Yorktown . The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793–1801, 1803–1814 & 1815) saw the Royal Navy reach

3857-628: The Battle of Britain in order to neutralise the Home Fleet , but faced stiff resistance from the Royal Air Force . The Luftwaffe bombing offensive during the Kanalkampf phase of the battle targeted naval convoys and bases in order to lure large concentrations of RAF fighters into attrition warfare . At Taranto , Admiral Cunningham commanded a fleet that launched the first all-aircraft naval attack in history. The Royal Navy suffered heavy losses in

3990-719: The Comte de Vergennes intervened in this discussion on the British side, but the result was a messy compromise, in which Congress was instructed merely to urge the State governments to make reparations to the Loyalists. In the Caribbean at this time, the British were not using their fleet to recapture islands which would then have to be defended, but concentrating on holding the few that remained. The same principle applied everywhere, and in September 1782,

4123-528: The Constitution of 1787 ). The French too played their diplomatic cards with some skill. While preparing to aid the Spanish forces in a massive assault on the fortress at Gibraltar, they stalled for time by insisting on American independence as a precondition for negotiation. They also sent a secret envoy to speak directly with Shelburne in England, for there were some matters on which they were seriously opposed to

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4256-587: The Dutch Republic (otherwise known as the United Provinces of the Netherlands, its 200-year-old federal government structure being a model from which the United States would learn) to recognise John Adams as the ambassador of an independent country. This led swiftly to the offer of a much-needed loan from the Netherlands, following which Adams went to Paris to join the impending peace negotiations. On 18 May,

4389-711: The Invergordon Mutiny took place in the Atlantic Fleet over the National Government 's proposed 25% pay cut, which was eventually reduced to 10%. International tensions increased in the mid-1930s and the re-armament of the Royal Navy was well under way by 1938. In addition to new construction, several existing old battleships , battlecruisers and heavy cruisers were reconstructed, and anti-aircraft weaponry reinforced, while new technologies, such as ASDIC , Huff-Duff and hydrophones , were developed. At

4522-682: The Kingdom of England had possessed less-organised naval forces for centuries prior to this. The Royal Scots Navy (or Old Scots Navy) had its origins in the Middle Ages until its merger with the English Royal Navy per the Acts of Union 1707 . During much of the medieval period, fleets or "king's ships" were often established or gathered for specific campaigns or actions, and these would disperse afterwards. These were generally merchant ships enlisted into service. Unlike some European states, England did not maintain

4655-575: The Middle East , especially Iraq . The Royal Navy played an historic role in several great global explorations of science and discovery. Beginning in the 18th century many great voyages were commissioned often in co-operation with the Royal Society , such as the Northwest Passage expedition of 1741 . James Cook led three great voyages, with goals such as discovering Terra Australis , observing

4788-457: The Ministry of Defence published figures showing that the Royal Navy and Royal Marines had 29,090 full-time trained personnel compared with a target of 30,600. In 2023, it was reported that the Royal Navy was experiencing significant recruiting challenges with a net drop of some 1,600 personnel (4 percent of the force) from mid-2022 to mid-2023. This was posing a significant problem in the ability of

4921-727: The North America and West Indies Station . After the First World War, this formation assumed responsibility for the eastern Pacific Ocean and the western South Atlantic and was known as the America and West Indies Station until 1956. In 1921, due to the ambitions of Imperial Japan and the threat of the Imperial Japanese Navy , it was decided to construct the Singapore Naval Base . During this period, naval warfare underwent

5054-555: The Transit of Venus and searching for the elusive North-West Passage , these voyages are considered to have contributed to world knowledge and science. In the late 18th century, during a four year voyage Captain George Vancouver made detailed maps of the western coastline of North America . In the 19th century, Charles Darwin made further contributions to science during the second voyage of HMS Beagle . The Ross expedition to

5187-579: The Treaties of Versailles (1783). The previous day, a preliminary treaty had been signed with representatives of the States General of the Dutch Republic , but the final treaty which ended the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War was not signed until 20 May 1784; for convenience, however, it is included in the summaries below. The treaty dictated that the British would lose their Thirteen Colonies and marked

5320-692: The Type 26 Frigate , with the incremental retirement of the remaining Type 23s commencing in 2021. The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 reduced the procurement of Type 26 to eight with five Type 31e frigates also to be procured. There are two classes of MCMVs in the Royal Navy: one Sandown -class minehunter and six Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels . All the Sandown-class vessels are to be withdrawn from service by 2025 and are being replaced by autonomous systems that are planned to operate from

5453-650: The War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1714) granted Britain Gibraltar and Menorca , providing the Navy with Mediterranean bases. The expansion of the Royal Navy would encourage the British colonisation of the Americas , with British (North) America becoming a vital source of timber for the Royal Navy. There was a defeat during the frustrated siege of Cartagena de Indias in 1741. A new French attempt to invade Britain

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5586-412: The high church , and expanded it to become the most powerful in the world. The fleet was quickly tested in the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654) and the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660) , which saw the British conquest of Jamaica and successful attacks on Spanish treasure fleets . The 1660 Restoration saw Charles II rename the Royal Navy again, and started use of the prefix HMS . The Navy remained

5719-459: The increasing cost of weapons systems . In 1981, Defence Secretary John Nott had advocated and initiated a series of cutbacks to the Navy . The Falklands War however 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

5852-420: The 1780s, and some historians link those disasters to the coming of the French Revolution . The Spanish regained Menorca , West Florida and East Florida from Britain, but not Gibraltar . The Dutch did not gain anything of significant value at the end of the war. News of the surrender of Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown reached Britain late in November 1781, shortly before Parliament

5985-433: The American Indian lands west of the Appalachians . Meanwhile, the American case was strengthened by the charters of the earliest colonies, which specified, in deliberate disregard of the claims of other nations, that they could expand from the east coast of America to the west coast. Franklin became ill with gout towards the end of summer, but when John Jay learned in September of the secret French mission to England, and

6118-477: The Americans and Bernardo de Gálvez , Spanish governor of Louisiana, one of the most successful leaders in the war. Spain's economy depended almost entirely on its colonial empire in the Americas, and a successful revolt by subjects of another colonial empire could set a ruinous example. In fact, there had been a series of three rebellions by native South Americans against Spain between 1777 and 1781, led by Tomás Katari , Túpac Amaru II , and Julian Apasa (who adopted

6251-402: The Americans received word that this had been done. This was one of the best-timed British moves of the whole war. From 20 September, reports of the great French and Spanish assault on Gibraltar began to reach Paris; all were negative, and by 27 September it was clear that the operation, involving more troops than had ever been in service at one time on the entire North American continent, had been

6384-437: The Americans. The most notable of these was the rich Newfoundland fishery , one of the main factors which had drawn the French across the Atlantic over 250 years earlier, and which they had managed to retain as a concession when the British took Canada in 1763. As British colonists, the Americans had rights to fish in these waters, but as the United States they would have no legal right to fish there unless it could be written into

6517-418: The Antarctic made several important discoveries in biology and zoology . Several of the Royal Navy's voyages ended in disaster such as those of Franklin and Scott . Between 1872 and 1876 HMS  Challenger undertook the first global marine research expedition, the Challenger expedition . During World War I , the Royal Navy's strength was mostly deployed at home in the Grand Fleet , confronting

6650-422: The Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Control of military forces in Nova Scotia passed to the new Government of Canada after the 1867 Confederation of Canada and control of the naval dockyard in Halifax, Nova Scotia was transferred to the Government of Canada in 1905, five years prior to the establishment of the Royal Canadian Navy . Prior to the 1920s, it was presumed that the only navies that could challenge

6783-436: The Atlantic, and from its base in Bermuda it blockaded the Atlantic seaboard of the United States throughout the war and carried out (with Royal Marines, Colonial Marines , British Army , and Board of Ordnance military corps units) various amphibious operations, most notably the Chesapeake campaign . On the Great Lakes , however, the United States Navy established an advantage. In 1860, Albert, Prince Consort , wrote to

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6916-400: The Bahamas (so tens of thousands of refugees who had fled to East Florida from the United States had to move again). Both East Florida and part of West Florida had been Spanish possessions before 1763, so the 1783 treaty did not specify boundaries, allowing the Spanish to claim that the 1763 boundaries still applied (the remainder of West Florida had been part of French Louisiana before 1763, and

7049-421: The Bahamas and Menorca, and they were still maintaining an increasingly futile siege of Gibraltar. An attempt to exchange Puerto Rico for Gibraltar collapsed, probably because it would have brought too much competition for Jamaican products into the protected British market. In the preliminary treaties signed with France and Spain on 20 January 1783, France and Britain therefore returned to each other nearly all

7182-491: The British Army and the Board of Ordnance military corps were cutback, weakening garrisons around the Empire, the Militia became a paper tiger, and the Volunteer Force and Fencible units disbanded, though the Yeomanry was maintained as a back-up to the police). Britain relied, throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, on imperial fortress colonies (originally Bermuda , Gibraltar, Halifax (Nova Scotia) , and Malta ). These areas permitted Britain to control

7315-694: 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. The end of the 19th century saw structural changes and older vessels were scrapped or placed into reserve, making funds and manpower available for newer ships. The launch of HMS  Dreadnought in 1906 rendered all existing battleships obsolete. The transition at this time from coal to fuel-oil for boiler firing would encourage Britain to expand their foothold in former Ottoman territories in

7448-435: The British fleet, without seriously engaging for battle, lured them away . News that Gibraltar was fully resupplied, with no problems for the convoy, reached London on 7 November, and probably reached Paris about the same time. The objections of Spain ceased to be of any relevance, and the French accepted the preliminary peace treaty between Great Britain and the United States, on 30 November, with protests but no action. Over

7581-518: The British were busy trying to stabilise their second new government of the year, Franklin neutralised what could have been France's biggest weapon against the United States—the vagueness of the repayment terms for the loans the French had been making to the Americans every few months since 1778. These totalled 18,000,000 livres (equivalent to over 2.5 million Spanish dollars —the preferred hard currency in America) plus an additional 10,000,000 livres (nearly 1.5 million dollars) which had been borrowed from

7714-498: The British, and only French military action had saved them from losing virtually all their colonies. They could exercise no leverage over Britain, Spain, France, or the United States in the peace negotiations, and did not make a preliminary treaty until 2 September 1783, the day before the other three treaties were formalised. Britain agreed to return nearly all Dutch possessions captured in the East Indies (the most important of which, Trincomalee on Ceylon , had already been retaken by

7847-423: The Caribbean island of St. Eustatius —in short, a glorious victory was his only option). The British negotiator sent to Paris was Richard Oswald , an old slave-trading partner of Henry Laurens, who had been one of his visitors in the Tower of London . His first talks with Franklin led to a proposal that Britain should hand over Canada to the Americans. On 23 April, Lord Shelburne, without specifically referring to

7980-407: The Dutch by King Louis XVI of France on America's behalf in 1781 when no international lender would loan anything directly to the Americans. By a contract dated 16 July 1782, America was to pay this money back on very favourable terms, with no payments due at all until three years after peace was finalised (a stipulation which would lead fairly directly to the next great milestone in American history,

8113-475: The Foreign Secretary John Russell, 1st Earl Russell with his concern about "a perfect disgrace to our country, and particularly to the Admiralty ". The stated shipbuilding policy of the British monarchy was to take advantage of technological change and so be able to deploy a new weapons system that could defend British interests before other national and imperial resources are reasonably mobilized. Nevertheless, British taxpayers scrutinized progress in modernizing

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8246-418: The French Shore Tapestry, finished in 2010 and now on display in Conche, Newfoundland . It measures 67.4 metres (221 ft) in length. This Newfoundland and Labrador -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Saint Pierre and Miquelon -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Peace of Paris (1783) The Peace of Paris of 1783

8379-427: The French anyway) but kept Negapatnam on the Indian coast. In a major concession Britain also secured free trade rights in parts of the Dutch East Indies. The terms of the peace, particularly the proposed treaty with the United States, caused a political storm in Britain. The concession of the Northwest Territory and the Newfoundland fisheries, and especially the apparent abandonment of Loyalists by an Article which

8512-441: The French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. England's naval forces could not prevent frequent raids on the south-coast ports by the French and their allies. Such raids halted only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V . A Scottish fleet existed by the reign of William the Lion . In the early 13th century there was a resurgence of Viking naval power in the region. The Vikings clashed with Scotland over control of

8645-422: The French position on the fisheries, he sent a message to Shelburne himself, explaining in some detail why he should avoid being influenced too much by the French and Spanish. At the same time Richard Oswald was asking if the terms of his commission to negotiate with the Americans could be slightly reworded to acknowledge that the 13 so-called colonies referred to themselves as "United States", and about 24 September,

8778-543: The French. Therefore, the decision was made to build on the "no offensive war" policy and begin peace talks with the Americans. Three factors made this the logical approach: first, the stated aim of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance between the United States and France was specifically to maintain the independence of the United States. Second, for well over a year, informal discussions had been held with Henry Laurens , an American envoy captured on his way to Amsterdam. On 31 December 1781 Laurens had been released on parole, and now he

8911-413: The German High Seas Fleet across the North Sea. Several inconclusive clashes took place between them, chiefly the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The British fighting advantage proved insurmountable, leading the High Seas Fleet to abandon any attempt to challenge British dominance. The Royal Navy under John Jellicoe also tried to avoid combat and remained in port at Scapa Flow for much of the war. This

9044-559: The Naval Service to the Admiralty Board , chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence . The Royal Navy operates from three bases in Britain where commissioned ships and submarines are based: Portsmouth , Clyde and Devonport , the last being the largest operational naval base in Western Europe, as well as two naval air stations, RNAS Yeovilton and RNAS Culdrose where maritime aircraft are based. The Royal Navy stated its six major roles in umbrella terms in 2017 as. The Royal Navy protects British interests at home and abroad, executing

9177-434: The Pacific and had begun building large, modern fleets which went to war with each other in 1904. Britain's reliance on Malta, via the Suez Canal, as the nearest Imperial fortress was improved, relying on amity and common interests that developed between Britain and the United States during and after World War I, by the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, allowing the cruisers based in Bermuda to more easily and rapidly reach

9310-407: The Queen's ships in highly profitable raids against Spanish commerce and colonies. The Royal Navy was then used in 1588 to repulse the Spanish Armada , but the English Armada was lost the next year. In 1603, the Union of the Crowns created a personal union between England and Scotland. While the two remained distinct sovereign states for a further century, the two navies increasingly fought as

9443-475: The Royal Navy at sea in several capacities. For fleet replenishment, it deploys one Fleet Solid Support Ship and six fleet tankers (three of which are maintained in reserve). The RFA also has one aviation training and casualty reception vessel, which also operates as a Littoral Strike Ship . Three amphibious transport docks are also incorporated within its fleet. These are known as the Bay-class landing ships, of which four were introduced in 2006–2007, but one

9576-714: The Royal Navy belonged to nations on the Atlantic Ocean or its connected seas, despite the growth of the Imperial Russian and United States Pacific fleets during the latter half of the 19th Century. Britain relied on Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea, to project power to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean via the Suez Canal after its completion in 1869. It relied on friendship and common interests between Britain and

9709-428: The Royal Navy had sent a large supply convoy to Gibraltar on the assumption that by the time it arrived, either the fortress would have been conquered, or the great assault would have been repelled and the siege weakened. The convoy was protected by 33 of the Navy's biggest ships, and on 10 October, as hoped, unloading of supplies at Gibraltar began. A large combined French and Spanish fleet hovered nearby, so on 20 October

9842-512: 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. Women now serve in all sections of the Royal Navy including the Royal Marines . In August 2019,

9975-530: The Royal Navy so as to ensure, that taypayers' money is not wasted. Between 1815 and 1914, the Royal Navy saw little serious action, owing to the absence of any opponent strong enough to challenge its dominance, though it did not suffer the drastic cutbacks the various military forces underwent in the period of economic austerity that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the American War of 1812 (when

10108-665: The Royal Navy, plus 13 ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). There are also four Point-class sealift ships from the Merchant Navy available to the RFA under a private finance initiative , while the civilian Marine Services operate auxiliary vessels which further support the Royal Navy in various capacities. The RFA replenishes Royal Navy warships at sea, and augments the Royal Navy's amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay-class landing ship vessels. It also works as

10241-530: The Royal Navy, with the final vessel, HMS  St Albans , commissioned in June 2002. However, the 2004 Delivering Security in a Changing World review announced that three frigates would be paid off as part of a cost-cutting exercise, and these were subsequently sold to the Chilean Navy . The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review announced that the remaining 13 Type 23 frigates would eventually be replaced by

10374-610: The Royal Navy. In December 2019, the modified Batch 1 River-class vessel, HMS  Clyde , was decommissioned, with the Batch 2 HMS  Forth taking over duties as the Falkland Islands patrol ship. HMS  Protector is a dedicated Antarctica patrol ship that fulfils the nation's mandate to provide support to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). HMS  Scott is an ocean survey vessel and at 13,500 tonnes

10507-825: The STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II . Queen Elizabeth began sea trials in June 2017, was commissioned later that year, and entered service in 2020, while the second, HMS  Prince of Wales , began sea trials on 22 September 2019, was commissioned in December 2019 and was declared operational as of October 2021. The aircraft carriers form a central part of the UK Carrier Strike Group alongside escorts and support ships. Amphibious warfare ships in current service include two landing platform docks ( HMS  Albion and HMS  Bulwark ). While their primary role

10640-647: The United States (which controlled transit through the Panama Canal , completed in 1914) during and after the First World War, and on Bermuda, to project power the length of the western Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. The area controlled from Bermuda (and Halifax until 1905) had been part of the North America Station, until the 1820s, which then absorbed the Jamaica Station to become

10773-560: The beginning of the war without the loss of a single life. The Royal Navy nevertheless remained active in other theatres, most notably in the Mediterranean Sea , where they waged the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns in 1914 and 1915. British cruisers hunted down German commerce raiders across the world's oceans in 1914 and 1915, including the battles of Coronel , Falklands Islands , Cocos , and Rufiji Delta , among others. At

10906-601: The class serve in U.K. waters in a sovereignty and fisheries protection role while the five Batch 2 ships are forward-deployed on a long-term basis to Gibraltar, the Caribbean, the Falkland Islands and the Indo-Pacific region. The vessel MV Grampian Frontier is leased from Scottish-based North Star Shipping for patrol duties around the British Indian Ocean Territory . However, she is not in commission with

11039-652: The cross of St Andrew was replaced with the Union Jack. On English ships, the red, white, or blue ensigns had the St George's Cross of England removed from the canton, and the combined crosses of the Union flag put in its place. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Royal Navy was the largest maritime force in the world, maintaining superiority in financing, tactics, training, organisation, social cohesion, hygiene, logistical support and warship design. The peace settlement following

11172-522: The decision to keep full independence as a point for negotiation was vindicated by the arrival in Europe of news that, over a month previously, Admiral George Rodney had gained a significant naval victory over the French in the Caribbean saving Jamaica from a Franco-Spanish invasion. It was also learned that the French Admiral Comte de Grasse had been captured during the battle. This was what both Rodney and Britain so desperately needed so Grenville

11305-686: The early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services , it is consequently known as the Senior Service . From the 19th century until the Second World War , it was the world's most powerful navy. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire , and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superiority. Following World War I , it

11438-576: The early phase of the war, and the Colonial Secretary, Lord Germain , was replaced by the hawkish Welbore Ellis . The inquiry into Navy administration was followed by a parliamentary vote on 20 February in which the First Lord of the Admiralty , Lord Sandwich , narrowly escaped dismissal. The following week, Parliament voted for a guarantee of the "no offensive war" claim made the previous autumn, on

11571-566: The eastern Pacific Ocean (after the war, the Royal Navy's Bermuda-based North America and West Indies Station was consequently re-designated the America and West Indies station , including a South American division. The rising power and increasing belligerence of the Japanese Empire after World War I, however, resulted in the construction of the Singapore Naval Base , which was completed in 1938, less than four years before hostilities with Japan did commence during World War II . In 1932,

11704-523: The end of World War I, the Royal Navy remained by far the world's most powerful navy, larger than the U.S. Navy and French Navy combined, and over twice as large as the Imperial Japanese Navy and Royal Italian Navy combined. Its former primary competitor, the Imperial German Navy, was destroyed at the end of the war . In the inter-war period , the Royal Navy was stripped of much of its power. The Washington and London Naval Treaties imposed

11837-537: The end of the First British Empire . The United States gained more than it expected, thanks to the award of western territory. France got its revenge over Britain after its defeat in the Seven Years' War and gained Tobago and Senegal but ended up financially exhausted. It was already in financial trouble and its borrowing to pay for the war used up all its credit and created the financial disasters that marked

11970-453: The first two years of the war. Over 3,000 people were lost when the converted troopship Lancastria was sunk in June 1940, the greatest maritime disaster in Britain's history. The Navy's most critical struggle was the Battle of the Atlantic defending Britain's vital North American commercial supply lines against U-boat attack. A traditional convoy system was instituted from the start of

12103-509: The forces of King George III, whom they viewed as their legal ruler. Possessions these people could not take with them had quickly been confiscated and sold off. It was equally clear that those who had stayed in America and fought for him whom they viewed as their legitimate sovereign would be even more heavily penalised unless safeguards could be built into the treaty. Franklin countered this argument by suggesting that reparations could be demanded for

12236-436: The foreign and defence policies of His Majesty's Government through the exercise of military effect, diplomatic activities and other activities in support of these objectives. It is also a key element of the British contribution to NATO, with a number of ships or aircraft allocated to NATO tasks at any time. In 2007 core capabilities were described as: The English Royal Navy was formally founded in 1546 by Henry VIII , though

12369-487: The formation of a strange new government team , nominally led by Lord Rockingham , whom the King hated, with Shelburne and Charles James Fox , who hated each other, as Secretaries of State . Rockingham's team recognised that their priority was to get Britain out of its four linked wars, and that time might be short—within days of his appointment, news came from the West Indies that three more British islands had been captured by

12502-506: The grounds that increased military commitment to America would, among other things, be "the means of weakening the efforts of this country against her European enemies". On 27 February 1782, the House voted against further war in America, by 19 votes. At the beginning of March, news arrived which absolutely confirmed the wisdom of this position – the loss of two more West Indian islands in January (with

12635-408: The individual States would inevitably ignore, were condemned in Parliament. The last point was the easiest solved—British tax revenue saved by not continuing the war would be used to compensate Loyalists. Nevertheless, on 17 February 1783 and again on 21 February, motions against the treaty were successful in Parliament, so on 24 February Lord Shelburne resigned, and for five weeks the British government

12768-463: The isles though Alexander III was ultimately successful in asserting Scottish control. The Scottish fleet was of particular import in repulsing English forces in the early 14th century. A standing "Navy Royal", with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I , England became involved in a war with Spain , which saw privately owned vessels combining with

12901-432: The land wars (which involved the French only as supporters to local rulers) and in naval battles; the British still appeared to hold all the French territory there that they had captured in 1778–79, while the French held no British territory. In the West Indies, on the other hand, the French still held all the territory they had captured, while the British held only one French island, St. Lucia . The Spanish held West Florida,

13034-531: The massive destruction of American property by British forces, which had been a very deliberate policy in the later stages of the war, and for the "kidnap" of tens of thousands of valuable slaves (who had roughly the same consideration in these negotiations as the American Indians); besides which, the confiscations of Loyalist property had been made by individual State governments, not the Congress. French negotiator

13167-587: The name Túpac Katari )—all had been crushed with utter ruthlessness. With such considerations in mind, Spain continually thwarted John Jay's attempts to establish diplomatic relations during his long assignments in Madrid , and was the last participant in the American Revolutionary War to acknowledge the independence of the United States, a fortnight after the preliminary peace treaty with Britain, on 3 February 1783. The Dutch had never captured anything from

13300-737: The navy to meet its commitments. In December 2019 the First Sea Lord , Admiral Tony Radakin , outlined a proposal to reduce the number of Rear-Admirals at Navy Command by five. The fighting arms (excluding Commandant General Royal Marines ) would be reduced to commodore (1-star) rank and the surface flotillas would be combined. Training would be concentrated under the Fleet Commander . The Royal Navy has two Queen Elizabeth -class aircraft carriers. Each carrier cost £ 3 billion and displaces 65,000 tonnes (64,000 long tons; 72,000 short tons). The first, HMS  Queen Elizabeth , commenced flight trials in 2018. Both are intended to operate

13433-512: The next few weeks, serious negotiations began between Britain, France and Spain (for which Britain's chief negotiator was Alleyne FitzHerbert , and Spain's the Count of Aranda ). Although a French naval expedition had destroyed British trading posts in Hudson Bay during the summer, no territory had actually been captured. From time to time, news would arrive from India of continuing stalemate, both in

13566-491: The peace talks by separating the issues of personal debts and war reparations. The latter were a particular problem for the British, because as early as 1775 Loyalists in some parts of the then-colonies had been forced into exile by local statutes imposing an "Army Test"—nearly all males of suitable age had to join the local militia, which, as had become clear in the first battles of the Revolution, would be expected to fight against

13699-615: The peace treaty. For Britain, the logical course would be to make France give its rights to the Americans. The Americans also wanted fishing rights in the Gulf of Mexico, to which again they had previously been entitled thanks to the British colonies in Florida (now controlled by Spain). The French and Spanish negotiators were also concerned about the American insistence on the Mississippi River as

13832-463: The place in October . In Paris, the British and American negotiators left the French and Spanish to argue between themselves, but John Adams was also still negotiating actively with the Dutch Republic, and on 8 October, the United Provinces and the United States signed a full treaty of amity and commerce. By this time the American envoys were aware of the letter to George Washington, so independence

13965-479: The rest of Louisiana had then been handed over to Spain). The opportunity was taken to resolve long-standing disputes about logwood cutting in Central America. The British, however, continued to hold Gibraltar after the siege was abandoned. Although France was an ally of both the United States and Spain, Spain was not an ally of the United States, though an informal alliance had existed since at least 1776 between

14098-661: The scrapping of some capital ships and limitations on new construction. The lack of an imperial fortress in the region of Asia , the Indian Ocean , and the Pacific Ocean was always to be a weakness throughout the 19th century as the former North American colonies that had become the United States of America had multiplied towards the Pacific Coast of North America, and the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire both had ports on

14231-411: The size of the Royal Navy. A 2013 report found that the Royal Navy was already too small, and that Britain would have to depend on her allies if her territories were attacked. The Royal Navy was responsible for training the fledgling 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

14364-416: The start of World War II in 1939, the Royal Navy was still the largest in the world, with over 1,400 vessels. The Royal Navy provided critical cover during Operation Dynamo , the British evacuations from Dunkirk , and as the ultimate deterrent to a German invasion of Britain during the following four months. The Luftwaffe under Hermann Göring attempted to gain air supremacy over southern England in

14497-485: The terms of that proposal, which he kept a secret from nearly all his colleagues, replied with an offer to accept full American independence, but on the existing borders. A second British envoy, Thomas Grenville (unaware of the Canada suggestion), was now sent to begin talks with the French government, based on this proposal. He indicated that the French could help to secure American independence, their avowed reason for entering

14630-633: The territories they had taken from each other since 1778, except for Tobago , which the French had captured in 1781 and were allowed to keep. France also gained some territory around the Senegal River in Africa which it had lost to Britain in 1763. The whole arrangement for fishing around the Newfoundland coast had to be renegotiated because of the rights awarded to the Americans. The Spanish did much better. They did not have to hand back West Florida or Menorca, and were also given East Florida in exchange for

14763-842: The treaty as agreed by Richard Oswald the previous November was formally signed, and at Versailles the separate treaties with France and Spain were also formalized. Based on preliminary articles made 30 November 1782, and approved by the Congress of the Confederation on 15 April 1783, this treaty was signed on 3 September 1783, and ratified by Congress on 14 January 1784, formally ending the American Revolutionary War . Preliminary articles had been signed 20 January 1783, at Versailles Signed at Versailles, 3 September 1783, by George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester and Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes . Supplementary notes indicate that

14896-601: The use of the French language for the treaties shall not be deemed to set a precedent; and clarify arrangements for preventing local disputes between British and French fishermen on Newfoundland, etc. Preliminary articles had been signed 20 January 1783, at Versailles. Signed at Versailles, 3 September 1783, by George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester and the Count of Aranda . Preliminary articles were signed 2 September 1783 at Paris. Signed at Paris, 20 May 1784, by Daniel Hailes ; Lestevenon van Berkenroode and Gerard Brantsen . Royal Navy The Royal Navy ( RN )

15029-421: The war back in 1778, by offering to return the British possessions they had captured in the West Indies, but the French rejected this, and separated their own peace demands from America's. That did indeed violate the spirit of their 1778 treaty of alliance with America, and fundamentally affected the future of the negotiations. Another factor which gave added power to the Americans was the decision on 19 April of

15162-502: The war, but German submarine tactics, based on group attacks by " wolf-packs ", were much more effective than in the previous war, and the threat remained serious for well over three years. After World War II, the decline of the British Empire and the economic hardships in Britain forced the reduction in the size and capability of the Royal Navy. The United States Navy instead took on the role of global naval power. Governments since have faced increasing budgetary pressures, partly due to

15295-606: Was acquired in 2023 to act as a mothership for autonomous minehunting systems. The Royal Navy also includes a number of smaller non-commissioned assets such as the Sea-class workboats . On 29 July 2022, the Royal Navy christened a new experimental ship, XV Patrick Blackett , which it aims to use as a testbed for autonomous systems. Whilst the ship flies the Blue Ensign , it is crewed by Royal Navy personnel and will participate in Royal Navy and NATO exercises. The Submarine Service

15428-628: Was contrary to widespread prewar expectations that in the event of a Continental conflict Britain would primarily provide naval support to the Entente Powers while sending at most only a small ground army. Nevertheless, the Royal Navy played an important role in securing the British Isles and the English Channel , notably ferrying the entire British Expeditionary Force to the Western Front at

15561-473: Was due to debate the military spending estimates for the following year. The hastily revised plan was that forces in America were to be retained at their existing level, but the policy of "offensive" war and long campaigns away from well-supplied strongholds (which had also led to the Saratoga defeat four years earlier) was to be abandoned in favour of a new approach, details of which had to remain secret. The budget

15694-633: Was forced to take over, which led to the resignation of Fox and a massive split in the anti-war Whig party in Parliament. Regardless of this, the remainder of the negotiations would be carried out under Shelburne's devious leadership. For example, he took advantage of the great delay in trans-Atlantic communication to send a letter to George Washington stating that Britain was accepting American independence without preconditions, while not authorising Richard Oswald to make any such promise when he returned to Paris to negotiate with Franklin and his colleagues ( John Jay had by this time returned from Spain). While

15827-477: Was learned that French forces had begun capturing small British-held islands in the West Indies even without the help of the new fleet (which had been driven back to France by storms), so a large British fleet was sent westwards as soon as possible. Also in that month, the government appointed a new commander for the American forces, Lieutenant General Guy Carleton who had defeated the American invasion of Canada in

15960-403: Was likely that they would have to negotiate with Britain to exchange it for some other territory, perhaps some of the captured West Indian islands. For Britain that would be a tough decision—although the West Indies produced vast profits, holding Gibraltar allowed unhindered sea trade with all the Mediterranean countries. The British government decided to resist accepting American independence as

16093-404: Was noted, but for practical purposes ignored because they could not significantly defend themselves. In their opposition to this expansion, ironically, the French and Spanish governments were effectively supporting the British on one of the points which had begun the move towards revolution in the 1760s—the use of military forces (paid for by taxes) to maintain a clear border between the colonies and

16226-601: Was now in question. The Royal Navy clearance diving unit, the Fleet Diving Squadron, was reorganised and renamed the Diving and Threat Exploitation Group in 2022. The group consists of five squadrons: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. The Royal Navy has a separate unit with divers the special forces unit the Special Boat Service . The escort fleet comprises guided missile destroyers and frigates and

16359-458: Was offered the chance to help begin negotiations. Third, on hearing of Lord North's resignation, Benjamin Franklin immediately wrote from Paris, making it clear that the Americans were ready to begin talking. However, Laurens, Franklin, and John Adams (then representing America in the Dutch Republic ) all made it clear to the British that America could not, under the 1778 alliance treaty, make peace without French agreement. What none of them knew

16492-566: Was passed by a large majority, but a few days later news was received that the British fleet in the Bay of Biscay had been able to capture only a fraction of a very large French fleet, carrying troops for invasions of British colonies around the world. Parliament immediately ordered an inquiry into the administration of the Royal Navy , to be held after the Christmas recess. At the beginning of January, it

16625-408: Was sent back to France to negotiate with both the Americans and the French, but found himself making little progress with either—only when Oswald told him about the Canada proposal did he begin to understand why, and he wrote an indignant letter to Charles Fox, who was no happier about what his hated rival Shelburne was doing. Having exposed the trickery to his colleagues, at the end of June Fox proposed

16758-558: Was significantly reduced in size. During the Cold War , the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force , hunting for Soviet submarines and mostly active in the GIUK gap . Following the collapse of the Soviet Union , its focus has returned to expeditionary operations around the world and it remains one of the world's foremost blue-water navies . The Royal Navy maintains

16891-643: Was sold to the Royal Australian Navy in 2011. In November 2006, the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band described the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels as "a major uplift in the Royal Navy's war fighting capability". In February 2023, a commercial vessel was also acquired to act as a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) Ship for the protection of critical seabed infrastructure and other tasks. She entered service as RFA Proteus . An additional vessel, RFA  Stirling Castle ,

17024-710: Was taken as a done deal, and discussions concentrated on the details. Remarkably, Britain accepted the American demand that the boundary with Canada should revert to its state after the Seven Years' War in 1763, not the revision of the Quebec Act in 1774. The difference between the two was the whole area east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio River —the Northwest Territory , from which five-and-a-half new States would later emerge. John Adams can claim credit for smoothing

17157-478: Was that France, under its completely separate treaty of alliance with Spain , could not make peace without Spanish agreement; indeed, not without a guarantee that the British stronghold of Gibraltar , commanding the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean , would be handed over to Spain. Spanish and French forces had been besieging Gibraltar for nearly three years without success, so it

17290-558: Was the set of treaties that ended the American Revolutionary War . On 3 September 1783, representatives of King George III of Great Britain signed a treaty in Paris with representatives of the United States of America—commonly known as the Treaty of Paris (1783) —and two treaties at Versailles with representatives of King Louis XVI of France and King Charles III of Spain —commonly known as

17423-406: Was thwarted by the defeat of their escort fleet in the extraordinary Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, fought in dangerous conditions. In 1762, the resumption of hostilities with Spain led to the British capture of Manila and of Havana , along with a Spanish fleet sheltering there. British naval supremacy could however be challenged still in this period by coalitions of other nations, as seen in

17556-418: Was to search for and destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic, and to operate the nuclear deterrent submarine force. The navy received its first nuclear weapons with the introduction of the first of the Resolution -class submarines armed with the Polaris missile . Following the conclusion of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the Royal Navy began to experience

17689-586: Was without a leader. Finally, a solution similar to the previous year's choice of Lord Rockingham was found. The new government was to be led, nominally, by the Duke of Portland , while the two Secretaries of State were to be Charles Fox and, remarkably, Lord North. Richard Oswald was replaced by a new negotiator, David Hartley , but the Americans refused to allow any modifications to the treaty—partly because they would have to be approved by Congress, which, with two Atlantic crossings, would take several months. Therefore, on 3 September 1783, at Hartley's hotel in Paris,

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