Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom.

England's first navy was established by King Alfred, but soon fell into disrepair. The reformation of the Royal Navy 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.

The Naval Service didn't really exist until the mid 17th Century when the Fleet Royal was incorporated into the Government following the defeat of Charles I in the English Civil War.

Nicknames include "The Mob", "The Andrew" and "The Senior Service"

The formation of Royal Dockyards at London, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Chatham, Rosyth...

The Napoleonic campaigns as dramatised by Jack Aubrey, Hornblower and Bolitho

• Patrick O'Brien = Aubrey-Maturin
• C.S. Forrester = Horatio Hornblower
• Alexander Kent = Richard Bolitho

HMS (acronym) = Her (or His) Majesty's Ship

Some components of the Royal Navy

• Royal Fleet Auxiliary
• Fleet Air Arm
• Royal Marines / Commando
• Wrens
• Royal Yacht

Royal Navy Timeline

1690 Battle of Beachy Head
1692 Battle of La Hogue
1797 Battle of Cape St. Vincent
1798 Battle of Aboukir Bay
1805 Battle of Trafalgar
1821 First Steam Paddle ships for auxiliary use (tugs etc)
1840 First Screw driven Steamship, HMS Rattler
1905 First Steam turbine battleship, HMS Dreadnought
1916 Battle of Jutland
1941 Sinking of HMS Hood and the Bismarck
1982 Falklands War Task force despatched
1991 Gulf War
1999 Kosovo conflict

Some famous members of the Royal Navy

• Admiral Horatio Nelson
• Captain William Bligh
• Admiral Jellicoe
• Admiral Beatty
• Admiral John "Sandy" Woodward
• Admiral Hood
• Admiral Rodney
• Lt. Charles Robert Malden

Some famous ships of the Royal Navy

• HMS Ark Royal
• HMS Hood
• HMS Beagle
• HMS Dreadnought
• HMS Resolution - first submarine of the Resolution Class

Weapons Systems

• Trident missile