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( Royal Navy)
The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service). From the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century (250 years), it was the largest and most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant power of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In World War II, the Royal Navy operated almost 900 ships. During the Cold War, it was transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, its role for the 21st century has returned to focus on global expeditionary operations. The Royal Navy is the second-largest navy of the NATO alliance, in terms of the combined displacement of its fleet, after the United States Navy.[1] There are currently 90 commissioned ships in the Royal Navy, including aircraft carriers, a helicopter carrier, landing platform docks, ballistic missile submarines, nuclear fleet submarines, guided missile destroyers, frigates, mine counter-measures and patrol vessels. There are also the support of 16 vessels of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The Royal Navy's ability to project power globally is considered second only to the U.S. Navy.[2][3] The Royal Navy also has the second largest carrier fleet in the world, with two carriers of the Invincible&_160;class in service (HMS&_160;Ark Royal and HMS&_160;Illustrious), another of the same class in reserve (HMS&_160;Invincible) and two of the supercarrier Queen Elizabeth&_160;class planned to replace the current fleet of aircraft carriers. The Royal Navy is a constituent component of the Naval Service, which also comprises the Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Marines Reserve. The Royal Navy numbers 37,500 people of whom approximately 6,000 are in the Royal Marines.[4] The English Navy began to develop during the 12th and 13th centuries and King John had a fleet of 500 sails. During the Hundred Years' War, the French fleet was initially stronger than the English fleet, but was almost completely destroyed at the Battle of Sluys in 1340. In the mid-fourteenth century Edward III's navy had some 712 ships. There then followed a period of decline the navy suffered disastrous defeats off La Rochelle in 1372 and 1419 to Franco - Castilian fleets, and English ports were ravaged by fleets commanded by Jean de Vienne and Fernando Sánchez de Tovar.
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