1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Her Majesty's Naval Service
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Her Majestys Naval Service, also known as the Senior Service, is the United Kingdoms naval warfare and maritime service. It consists of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Naval Careers Service, Royal Marines Band Service, the term Naval Service should be distinguished from the UK Naval Services, which consist of the Naval Service and the Merchant Navy. The Naval Service as a whole falls under the command of the Navy Board and this position is currently held by Admiral Sir Phillip Jones. The Defence Council delegates administration of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, the total displacement of HM Naval Service and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is approximately 641,000 tonnes. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is considered part of the Ministry of Defence Civil Service, the Navy has been structured around a single fleet since the abolition of the Eastern and Western fleets in 1971. Command of deployable assets is exercised by the Commander-in-Chief Fleet, who also has authority over the Royal Marines, personnel matters are the responsibility of the Second Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, an appointment usually held by a vice-admiral. The United Kingdoms nuclear deterrent is carried aboard the navys Vanguard-class of four nuclear ballistic-missile submarines, the surface fleet consists of destroyers, frigates, amphibious assault ships, patrol ships, mine-countermeasures, and miscellaneous vessels. The submarine service has existed within the Royal Navy for more than 100 years, the service possessed a combined fleet of diesel-electric and nuclear-powered submarines until the early 1990s. Following the Options for Change defence review, the Upholder class diesel-electric submarines were withdrawn, the infantry component of the Naval Service is the Corps of Royal Marines. Consisting of a single brigade and various independent units, the Royal Marines specialise in amphibious, arctic. The Commando Logistic Regiment consists of personnel from the Army, Royal Marines, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world and its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment at sea. It also transports Army and Royal Marine personnel, as well as supporting training exercises, the RFA is funded out of the UK defence budget and the Commodore commanding the RFA is directly responsible to the Royal Navy Fleet Commander. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary also augments the Royal Navys amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay-class landing ship dock vessels, the service is manned by around 1,850 civilian personnel. Serco Denholm took over Marine Services to the Naval Service from the now disbanded Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service in 2008, in late 2009 Serco bought out Denholms share, with the service now being known as Serco Marine Services
3.
British Armed Forces
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They also promote Britains wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts, and provide humanitarian aid. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the leading military. The Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the armed forces by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, as required by the Bill of Rights 1689. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, with the Acts of Union 1707, the armed forces of England and Scotland were merged into the armed forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Britain feared that Russian expansionism in the region would eventually threaten the Empire in India and this ultimately led to British involvement in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire. The beginning of the twentieth century served to reduce tensions between Britain and the Russian Empire, partly due to the emergence of a unified German Empire. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Central Powers, the end of the German Empire, the Treaty of Versailles, once again tensions accumulated in European relations, and following Germanys invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Second World War began. The conflict was the most widespread in British history, with British Empire and Commonwealth troops fighting in campaigns from Europe and North Africa, to the Middle East, approximately 390,000 British Empire and Commonwealth troops lost their lives. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of the United Nations, reflecting Britains new role in the world and the escalation of the Cold War, the country became a founding member of the NATO military alliance in 1949. By the mid-1970s, the forces had reconfigured to focus on the responsibilities allocated to them by NATO. While NATO obligations took increased prominence, Britain nonetheless found itself engaged in a number of low-intensity conflicts, however the Dhofar Rebellion and The Troubles emerged as the primary operational concerns of the armed forces. Perhaps the most important conflict during the Cold War, at least in the context of British defence policy, was the Falklands War. Since the end of the Cold War, an international role for the armed forces has been pursued, with re-structuring to deliver a greater focus on expeditionary warfare. In addition to the campaign, the British Army has trained and supplied allies on the ground. Figures released by the Ministry of Defence on 31 March 2016 show that 7,185 British Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives in medal earning theatres since the end of the Second World War. As Sovereign and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Armed Forces, the Queen, however, remains the ultimate authority of the military, with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to the monarch. It has been claimed that this includes the power to prevent unconstitutional use of the armed forces, responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees, the Defence Council, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Management Board and three single-service boards. The Defence Council, composed of representatives of the services
4.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, 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 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, 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, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
5.
Fleet Air Arm
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The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King, and AgustaWestland Wildcat helicopters, helicopters such as the Lynx and Westland Wasp have been deployed on smaller vessels since 1964, taking over the roles once performed by biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish. During the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm operated aircraft on ships as well as land-based aircraft that defended the Royal Navys shore establishments, British naval flying started in 1909, with the construction of an airship for naval duties. The Naval Wing of the RFC lasted until July 1914 when the Royal Navy reformed its air branch, under the Air Department of the Admiralty, naming it the Royal Naval Air Service. By the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914, the RNAS had more aircraft under its control than the remaining RFC. In April 1918 the RNAS, which at this time had 67,000 officers and men,2,949 aircraft,103 airships and 126 coastal stations, merged with the RFC to form the Royal Air Force. On 1 April 1924, the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force was formed, encompassing those RAF units that normally embarked on aircraft carriers, over the following months RAF Fleet Air Arm Fairey IIID reconnaissance biplanes operated off Hermes, conducting flying trials. On 24 May 1939 the Fleet Air Arm was returned to Admiralty control under the Inskip Award, at the onset of the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm consisted of 20 squadrons with only 232 aircraft. By the end of the war the strength of the Fleet Air Arm was 59 aircraft carriers,3,700 aircraft,72,000 officers and men. During the war, the FAA operated fighters, torpedo bombers, following the Dunkirk evacuation and the commencement of the Battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force soon found itself critically short of fighter pilots. In the summer of 1940, the RAF had little more than 800 fighter pilots, with this desperate situation the RAF was forced to call upon the Admiralty for Fleet Air Arm assistance. The aircraft carrier had replaced the battleship as the Fleets capital ship, the top scoring fighter ace with 17 victories was Commander Stanley Orr, the Royal Marine ace was Ronald Cuthbert Hay with 13 victories. A number of Royal Marines served as FAA pilots during the war, after the war the FAA needed to fly jet aircraft from their carriers. The jet aircraft of the era were considerably less effective at low speeds than propeller aircraft, the FAA took on its first jet, the Sea Vampire, in the late 1940s. The Sea Vampire was the first jet credited with taking off, the Air Arm continued with high-powered prop aircraft alongside the new jets resulting in the FAA being woefully outpowered during the Korean War. Nevertheless, jets were not yet wholly superior to propeller aircraft, as jets became larger, more powerful and faster they required more space to take off and land. The US Navy simply built much larger carriers, the Royal Navy had a few large carriers built and completed after the end of the war but another solution was sought. An associated British invention, intended to more precise optical guidance to aircraft on final approaching the deck, was the Fresnel lens optical landing aid
6.
Royal Navy Submarine Service
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The Royal Navy Submarine Service is the submarine element of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes known as the Silent Service, as the submarines are generally required to operate undetected, the service operates seven fleet submarines, of the Trafalgar and Astute classes, and four ballistic missile submarines, of the Vanguard class. All of these submarines are nuclear powered, the service also owns the LR5 Submarine Rescue System. Since 1993 the post of Flag Officer Submarines has been dual-hatted with the post of Commander Operations, the service was for many years located at HMS Dolphin in Hampshire. It moved from Dolphin to the Northwood Headquarters in 1978, the Submarine School is now at HMS Raleigh at Torpoint in Cornwall. At the beginning of the 20th century, the idea of warfare was considered by senior personnel in the Admiralty to be Underhand, unfair. But since other navies were developing submarines, the Royal Navy had no choice but to do the same, launching its first design, Holland 1, in 1901. On 30 August 1939 Rear Admiral Submarines, Rear Admiral Bertram Watson, moved his headquarters from Gosport to Aberdour, Scotland, the RN started the Second World War with 60 submarines. On 31 August 1939 Second Submarine Flotilla at Dundee and Sixth Submarine Flotilla at Blyth were part of the Home Fleet, roskill writes that the effective naval strength of the British Empire on the outbreak of war included 38 submarines. In January 1940, Vice-Admiral Max Horton was made Rear Admiral Submarines, hortons biographer, Rear Admiral William S. In the Mediterranean, British U-class submarines began operations against Italy as early as January 1941, larger submarines began operations in 1940, but after 50% losses per mission, they were withdrawn. U-class submarines operated from the Manoel Island Base known as HMS Talbot, unfortunately no bomb-proof pens were available as the building project had been scrapped before the war, owing to cost-cutting policies. The new force was named the Tenth Submarine Flotilla and was placed under Flag Officer Submarines, Admiral Max Horton, administratively, the Tenth Flotilla operated under the First Submarine Flotilla at Alexandria, itself under the admiral commanding in the Mediterranean, Cunningham. In reality, Cunningham gave Simpson and his unit a free hand, until U-class vessels could be made available in numbers, British T-class submarines were used. They had successes, but suffered losses when they began operations on 20 September 1940. Owing to the shortage of torpedoes, enemy ships could not be attacked unless the target in question was a warship, the flotillas performance of the fleet was mixed at first. They sank 37,000 long tons of Italian shipping, half by one vessel and it accounted for one Italian submarine, nine merchant vessels and one Motor Torpedo Boat. The loss of nine submarines and their crews and commanders was serious
7.
Royal Naval Reserve
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The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, the Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and Afghanistan. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 and this established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of only, but in 1862 this was extended to include the recruitment. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique, after initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navys fleet for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. In 1910, the RNR was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers, prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—forever after referred to as the hungry hundred. In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held positions in the shipping industry. On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers, Officers of the permanent RNR on general service quickly took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, submarines, auxiliary cruisers and Q-ships. Others served in units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal. Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries, although considerably smaller than both the RN and the RNVR, the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, frigates, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers, in convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was often an RNR officer. As in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well, during the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR, which then became the main route for wartime officer entry. The service was called the Wavy Navy, after the 3/8-inch wavy sleeve rings that RNVR officers wore to differentiate them from RN/RNR officers. From 30 November 2007, mainly due to increasing involvement of the RNR in RN operations and deployments, similarly, RNR ratings no longer wear RNR shoulder flashes. From 1938 until 1957, the RNVR provided aircrew personnel in the form of their own Air Branch, in 1947, their contribution was cut to anti-submarine and fighter squadrons only. By 1957, it was considered by the UK government that the required to operate modern equipment was beyond that expected of reservists
8.
Royal Navy Medical Service
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The Royal Navy Medical Service is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for medical care. It works closely with Queen Alexandras Royal Naval Nursing Service, since the Royal Navy was officially established, the medical officers of the navy were segregated into surgeons and physicians. The current structure of ranking for medical officers was adopted in 1918, the medical branch today is made up of Medical Officers and non-commissioned officers and ratings as medical assistants, who receive similar training to paramedics. Nursing services are provided for the navy by the QARNNS which works alongside the Medical Service, in total,1,522 personnel are employed by the service. It is currently commanded by Surgeon Commodore Peter Buxton OBE QHP, the honorary Commodore-in-Chief of the RNMS is Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. In her role as Commodore-in-Chief, the Duchess visited the training-establishment HMS Excellent in January 2012, all ranks of the medical branch provide medical care afloat as well at naval shore establishments and with the royal marines. Medical Assistants are deployed on all major warships and submarines of the Royal Navy and they also have the role of training the crew in first aid. Capital ships often carry non-commissioned medical technicians as part of the medical department. Medical Assistants both male and female provide medical support and shore side medical care to all Units of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines. All medical assistants are ranked in the manner as other ratings. Capital ships have separate medical departments permanently staffed by one or two officers, but they are embarked temporarily on smaller vessels when on a long operational tour. Medical officers are ranked in the manner as other officers. Although royal navy medical officers are qualified doctors, they do not use the Dr prefix, like those in other British military medical organisations
9.
Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service
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Queen Alexandras Royal Naval Nursing Service is the nursing branch of the British Royal Navy. The Service unit works alongside the Royal Navy Medical Branch, as of 1 January 2006, according to former Ministry of Defence junior minister Don Touhig, the QARNNS had a total strength of 90 Nursing Officers and 200 Naval Nurses out of a requirement of 330. The Navy List listed 92 QARNNS Officers, of two were captains, seven commanders,19 lieutenant-commanders,60 lieutenants and four sub-lieutenants. In 1883, a committee determined that improvements were needed in medical, as such, in 1884, a uniformed Naval Nursing Service was introduced, staffed by trained nurses. These nurses served on shore, initially at Haslar and Plymouth, Queen Alexandras Royal Naval Nursing Service Reserve was established on 13 October 1910. In 1949 a nursing branch of the Womens Royal Naval Service was formed, however, in 1960 these nurses were integrated into QARNNS, in 1982 an integrated service was formed, allowing men to serve as nurses in QARNNS. The first man to join was Senior Nursing Officer Rajendrasen Purusrum, although fully affiliated to the Royal Navy from 1977, QARNNS was technically a separate service until 31 March 2000, when it officially became part of the Royal Navy. Queen Alexandra was President until her death in 1925, the following year she was succeeded by Queen Mary. Princess Alexandra became Patron in 1955, initially there were only two ranks, Nursing Sister and Head Sister. In 1911 the intermediate rank of Superintending Sister was introduced, there was no overall head of the service until the introduction of the rank of Head Sister-in-Chief on 1 August 1927. By 1937 Head Sister and Head Sister-in-Chief had been renamed Matron, the ranking system changed during the Second World War. Ratings, known as Naval Nurses, were introduced in 1960 and their ranking system was similar to that of Royal Navy ratings. In 1982, in preparation for the introduction of male officers, margaret Keenan, 1927–1929 Mildred Hughes, 1929–1934 Catherine Renwick, 1934–1937 B
