Description
History of the Royal Navy: The Sun Never Sets 1806-Present
The History of the Royal Navy is a History Channel series that takes a fascinating look at the rise and decline of one of the most powerful fleets the world has ever known: The Royal Navy. Source: Publisher
About the Royal Navy
Naval warfare is conducted by the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN).
English and Scottish kings began to use warships as far back as the early medieval period. However, the first significant maritime engagements took place during the Hundred Years’ War against France.
The Royal Navy, the eldest of the United Kingdom’s armed forces, traces its origins to the early 16th century. Therefore, they refer to it as the Senior Service.
The Royal Navy competed with the Dutch Navy. Then the French Navy for maritime supremacy in the middle decades of the 17th and 18th centuries.
From the mid-18th century until the Second World War, it was the most powerful naval force in the world.
The phenomenon of its historical prominence is a commonly used term referring to without qualification even among non-Brits.
Following World War I, the Royal Navy suffered a significant size reduction, though it was still the largest in the world at the start of World War II.
As a result of the Cold War, the engagement of the Royal Navy was combating Soviet submarines and patrolling the GIUK Strait.
They still consider it as one of the world’s most prominent blue-water navies since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Reduced naval spending in the 21st century has forced a personnel shortfall and cut back on warships numbers.
As of today, the Royal Navy has 79 operational commissioned ships (including submarines and one historic vessel, HMS Victory) plus 13 ships in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA); additionally, the RFA has five Merchant Navy ships available under a private finance initiative.
