Royal Navy: Difference between revisions

From the middle decades of the 17th century, and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the [[Dutch Navy]] and later with the [[French Navy]] for maritime supremacy. From the mid-18th19th century until the [[World War II|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 globally. Owing to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, to refer to it as "the Royal Navy" without qualification. Following [[World War I]], it was significantly reduced in size,<ref>Rose, ''Power at Sea'', p. 36</ref> although at the onset of World War II it was still the world's largest. During the [[Cold War]], the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily [[Anti-submarine warfare|anti-submarine force]], hunting for [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] submarines and mostly active in the [[GIUK gap]]. Following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]], its focus has returned to [[Expeditionary warfare|expeditionary]] operations [[Standing Royal Navy deployments|around the world]] and it remains one of the world's foremost [[blue-water navy|blue-water navies]].<ref>Hyde-Price, ''European Security'', pp. 105–106.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Royal Navy: Britain's Trident for a Global Agenda |date=4 November 2006 |url=http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2006/11/04/the-royal-navy-britains-trident-for-a-global-agenda/ |publisher=[[Henry Jackson Society]] |access-date=4 November 2006 |quote=Britannia, with her shield and trident, is the very symbol, not only of the Royal Navy, but also of British global power. In the last instance, the Royal Navy is the United Kingdom's greatest strategic asset and instrument. As the only other 'blue-water' navy other than those of France and the United States, its ballistic missile submarines carry the nation's nuclear deterrent and its aircraft carriers and escorting naval squadrons supply London with a deep oceanic power projection capability, which enables Britain to maintain a 'forward presence' globally, and the ability to influence events tactically throughout the world. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911235404/http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2006/11/04/the-royal-navy-britains-trident-for-a-global-agenda/ |archive-date=11 September 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bennett|first1=James C|title=The Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty-first Century|year=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=United States|isbn=978-0742533332|page=286|quote=...the United States and the United Kingdom have the world's two best world-spanning blue-water navies... with the French being the only other candidate... and China being the most likely competitor in the long term}}</ref>