1.
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
2.
Commander
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Commander is a common naval and air force officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organisations, Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example platoon commander, brigade commander and squadron commander. In the police, terms such as commander and incident commander are used. Commander is a used in navies but is very rarely used as a rank in armies. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns, the Royal Navy shortened master and commander to commander in 1794, however, the term master and commander remained in common parlance for several years. The equivalent American rank master commandant remained in use changed to commander in 1838. A corresponding rank in some navies is frigate captain, in the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4. Various functions of commanding officers were also styled Commandeur, in the navy of the Dutch Republic, anyone who commanded a ship or a fleet without having an appropriate rank to do so, could be called a Commandeur. This included ad hoc fleet Commanders and acting Captains, in the fleet of the Admiralty of Zealand however, commandeur was a formal rank, the equivalent of Schout-bij-nacht in the other Dutch admiralties. The Dutch use of the title as a rank lives on in the Royal Netherlands Navy, in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, however, this rank is known by the English spelling of Commodore which is the Dutch equivalent of the British Air Commodore. The rank of commander in the Royal Australian Navy is identical in description to that of a commander in the British Royal Navy, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 have the equivalent rank standing of commanders. This means that to officers and NCOs below the rank of commander, or wing commander, the chaplain is a superior. To those officers ranked higher than commander, the chaplain is subordinate, although this equivalency exists, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 do not actually wear the rank of commander, and they hold no command privilege. In France, the rank of commander exists as capitaine de frégate and it is senior to capitaine de corvette, and junior to capitaine de vaisseau. The rank of commander was used in the Imperial Japanese Navy, though the modern rank is translated as commander in English, its literal translation is captain second rank. The rank is equivalent to that of a commander in the U. S. Navy, Commander is a rank in the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, and is denoted by the post-nominal letters CLJ. The corresponding rank in the Polish Navy is komandor porucznik, in the Russian Navy the equivalent rank to commander is captain of the second rank. The rank was introduced in Russia by Peter the Great in 1722, from the introduction of the Russian Table of Ranks to its abolition in 1917, captain of the second rank was equal to a court councillor, at the sixth level out of 14 ranks
3.
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
4.
801 Naval Air Squadron
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801 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy formed in 1933 which fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Falklands War. The squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 as part of the Fleet Air Arm, the squadron was equipped with the Fairey Flycatcher and Hawker Nimrod aboard HMS Hermes. The Flycatchers were replaced in 1934 by the Hawker Osprey and the Nimrods were retired in 1936, the squadron was re-equipped with the Blackburn Skua and Gloster Gladiator in 1939 just before the squadron was transferred to the Admiralty. In September,801 Squadron embarked on Furious for raids on the parts of the Norwegian coast. In 1943880 Naval Air Squadron formed the 30 Naval Fighter Wing on HMS Implacable, in June 1945, naval fighter wings were reformed as carrier groups with 801 NAS,828 NAS,880 NAS and 1771 NAS becoming the 8th Carrier Air Group. In August 1941 they re-equipped with Sea Hurricanes at RNAS Yeovilton, the squadron deployed to the Mediterranean aboard Argus, then to Eagle. During this deployment 801 NAS claimed thirteen enemy aircraft of various types, Two of the Fulmars were brought down by friendly fire. In March 1951,801 NAS received Hawker Sea Furys and the squadron saw service during the Korean War flying from Glory. Glory was deployed in theatre from 3 April 1951 to 30 September 1951,801 NAS was embarked on the second tour of duty. Sea Furies could be armed with two bombs or four rockets and drop tanks in both cases. The aircraft were used in the ground attack role armed with bombs and rockets. On 18 March 1962,801 squadron was reformed at Lossiemouth in the role with Buccaneers. In July 1962 they embarked 10 aircraft in Victorious for the Far East, the squadron subsequently received the 1967 Boyd Trophy, an annual award for the best squadron in the Fleet Air Arm, for its efforts in bringing the Buccaneer into service. 801 transferred to Hermes with 7 aircraft in 1968 for a spell in Eastern waters. In March 1969 the ship returned home to spend the year in Home. The squadron eventually disbanded at Lossiemouth on the 21 July 1970, in January 1981 the squadron re-equipped with the Sea Harrier FRS.1 at RNAS Yeovilton. The squadron operated the Sea Harrier equipped with Blue Fox radars aboard Invincible during the Falklands War, the squadron was supplemented by five pilots from 899 NAS and was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Nigel Sharkey Ward. Flight Lieutenant Paul Barton Lieutenant Mike Watson 801 Squadron shot down 8 Argentine aircraft,1 May 1982 - A Mirage III of FAA Grupo 8 shot down north of West Falkland by Barton using a Sidewinder
5.
Falklands War
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It began on Friday,2 April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it had claimed over them. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval force to engage the Argentine Navy. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, in total,649 Argentine military personnel,255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities. The conflict was an episode in the protracted confrontation over the territories sovereignty. Argentina asserted that the islands are Argentine territory, and the Argentine government thus characterised its military action as the reclamation of its own territory, the British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Falkland Islanders, who have inhabited the islands since the early 19th century, are descendants of British settlers. The conflict has had an effect in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films, and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the military government. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party government, bolstered by the outcome, was re-elected the following year. The cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect in Britain than in Argentina, diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, Spain, at which the two governments issued a joint statement. No change in either countrys position regarding the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit, in 1994, Argentinas claim to the territories was added to its constitution. In December 1981 there was a change in the Argentine military regime, bringing to office a new junta headed by General Leopoldo Galtieri, Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo. Anaya was the architect and supporter of a military solution for the long-standing claim over the islands. Such action would also bolster its dwindling legitimacy, the newspaper La Prensa speculated in a step-by-step plan beginning with cutting off supplies to the islands, ending in direct actions late in 1982, if the UN talks were fruitless. The Royal Navy ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance was dispatched from Stanley to South Georgia in response, the Argentine military junta, suspecting that the UK would reinforce its South Atlantic Forces, ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands to be brought forward to 2 April. Britain was initially taken by surprise by the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands, despite repeated warnings by Royal Navy captain Nicholas Barker, on 2 April 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings off the Falkland Islands. The invasion was met with a defence organised by the Falkland Islands Governor Sir Rex Hunt. Word of the invasion first reached Britain from Argentine sources, a Ministry of Defence operative in London had a short telex conversation with Governor Hunts telex operator, who confirmed that Argentines were on the island and in control
6.
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
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The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is granted in recognition of. Gallantry during active operations against the enemy at sea, the award was originally created in 1901 as the Conspicuous Service Cross, for award to warrant and junior officers ineligible for the DSO. It was renamed the Distinguished Service Cross in October 1914, eligibility being extended to all officers below the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1931, the award was made available to members of the Merchant Navy, the DSC now serves as the third level award for gallantry at sea for all ranks. Since 1916, bars to the DSC have been awarded in recognition of the performance of acts of gallantry meriting the award. Recipients are entitled to the post-nominal DSC and this DSC is a plain silver cross with rounded edges. The obverse has a centre within which can be seen the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch at the time of award. From 1940 year of issue has been engraved on lower limb of cross, the reverse is plain apart from the hallmark and the ribbon is attached via a hall-marked silver ring. The ribbon has three stripes of dark blue, white and dark blue. Only one person has ever awarded the Distinguished Service Cross four times. Norman Eyre Morley served in the Royal Naval Reserve during World War I and he was awarded the DSC for the first time in 1919. He was awarded his second DSC in 1944 and he was awarded the DSC a further two times in 1945. He gained an entry into the Guinness Book of Records as the most decorated reserve officer, awarded DSC in 1940,1942, and 1944. Thomas Le Mesurier, served in the Royal Air Force during World War I as an ace credited with seven aerial victories. Awarded DSC twice in 1917 and in 1918, george James Macdonald, served in the Royal New Zealand Navy Richard Minifie, served in the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I. Awarded DSC in twice in 1917 and in 1918, stanley Orr, served in the Royal Navy during World War II. Awarded DSC in 1940,1941, and 1944, peter Piper, served in the Royal Naval Reserve during World War II. Awarded DSC in 1939 and twice in 1941, recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross British and Commonwealth orders and decorations Mackay, J. and Mussel, J. Medals Yearbook –2005,2004, Token Publishing
7.
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
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A bar is added to the ribbon for holders who are awarded a second AFC. The award was established on 3 June 1918, during the First World War, approximately 680 were awarded. During the Second World War,2,001 decorations were awarded,58 honorary awards were made to aircrew from other non-Commonwealth countries. Recipients of the Air Force Cross are entitled to use the post-nominal letters AFC, a bar is added to the ribbon of holders of the AFC for each additional award. The medal is a cross,60 mm high and 54 mm wide, representing aircraft propeller blades. The obverse depicts Hermes, riding on the wings of a holding a laurel wreath. At the top of the arm is the royal crown. The suspender is straight and decorated with laurel wreaths, the ribbon was originally white with red broad horizontal stripes, but changed in 1919 to the current white with red broad diagonal stripes at a 45-degree angle. George Bulman, awarded the AFC three times for services as a test pilot, geoffrey Dhenin, awarded the AFC twice for his role in the British nuclear weapons tests in Australia. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Andrew Humphrey, awarded the AFC three times, Willie Read, awarded the AFC three times, H. P. Ruffell Smith, awarded the AFC three times. Peter Thorne, awarded the AFC three times, British and Commonwealth orders and decorations Page including text from the London Gazette dated 5 December 1919, establishing DFC, AFC, DFM and AFM
8.
Fighter pilot
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A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting, a fighter pilot with at least five air-to-air kills becomes known as an ace. Fighter pilots are one of the most highly regarded and desirable positions of any air force, selection processes only accept the elite out of all the potential candidates. An individual who possesses an academic record, physical fitness, healthy well-being. Candidates are also expected to exhibit strong leadership and teamwork abilities, as such, in nearly all air forces, fighter pilots, as are pilots of most other aircraft, are commissioned officers. Fighter pilots must be in health to handle the physical demands of modern aerial warfare. Excellent heart condition is required, as the increased Gs a pilot experiences in a turn can cause stress on the cardiovascular system, one G is equal to the force of gravity experienced under normal conditions, two Gs would be twice the force of normal gravity. Some fighter aircraft regularly accelerate to up to 9 Gs, Fighter pilots also require strong muscle tissue along the extremities and abdomen, for performing an anti-G straining maneuver when performing tight turns and other highly accelerated maneuvers. Better-than-average visual acuity is also a desirable and valuable trait. Modern medium and long range active radar homing and semi-active radar homing missiles can be fired at targets outside or beyond visual range, however, when a pilot is dogfighting at short-range, his position relative to the opponent is decidedly important. Outperformance of another pilot and that aircraft is critical to maintain the upper-hand. A common saying for dogfighting is lose sight, lose fight, if one pilot had a greater missile range than the other, he would choose to fire his missile first, before being in range of the enemys missile. Normally, the facts of an enemys weapon payload is unknown, attacks from missiles are usually countered with electronic countermeasures and chaff. Missiles like the AIM-120 AMRAAM, however, can home in on jamming signals. Dogfighting at 1 to 4 miles is considered close, Pilots perform stressful maneuvers to gain advantage in the dogfight. Pilots need to be in shape in order to handle the high G-forces caused by aerial combat. A pilot flexes his legs and torso to keep blood from draining out of the head and this is known as the AGSM or the M1 or, sometimes, as the grunt. Many early air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles had very simple infrared homing guidance systems with a field of view
9.
Britannia Royal Naval College
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Britannia Royal Naval College, commonly known as Dartmouth, is the initial officer training establishment of the British Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, Royal Naval officer training has taken place in Dartmouth since 1863. The buildings of the current campus were completed in 1905, earlier students lived in two wooden hulks moored in the River Dart. Since 1998, BRNC has been the centre for Royal Naval officer training. The training of officers at Dartmouth dates from 1863, when the wooden hulk HMS Britannia was moved from Portland. In 1864, after an influx of new recruits, Britannia was supplemented by HMS Hindostan, prior to this, a Royal Naval Academy had operated for more than a century from 1733 to 1837 at Portsmouth, a major naval installation. The original Britannia was replaced by the Prince of Wales in 1869, the foundation stone for a new building at the college was laid by King Edward VII in March 1902. Sir Aston Webb designed the college at Dartmouth, which was built by Higgs and Hill. The first term of cadets entered at the R. N, College Osborne were transferred to Dartmouth in September 1905. The college was known as the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. As a Royal Naval shore establishment, it was known also by the ship name HMS Britannia. The college was named in 1953, when the name Britannia was given to the newly launched royal yacht HMY Britannia, the training ship moored in the River Dart at Sandquay, currently the former Sandown class minehunter HMS Cromer, continues to bear the name Hindostan. Cadets originally joined the Royal Naval College, Osborne, at the age of 13 for two years study and work before joining Dartmouth and they studied there for four years there before starting sea training at age 17. The entry age for the Naval College was changed to 16 in 1948, until 1941, Dartmouth was in effect a specialised boarding school, with parents paying fees for tuition and board. During the Second World War, after six Focke-Wulf aircraft bombed the College in September 1942, students, two bombs had penetrated the Colleges main block, causing damage to the quarterdeck and surrounding rooms. In the early 21st century, officer cadets, as they are known until passing out from the college, while most cadets join BRNC after finishing university, some join directly from secondary school. All spend between 30 and 49 weeks at the college, depending on specialisation, a large contingent of foreign and Commonwealth students are part of the student body. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary sends its cadets to BRNC for an 8-week initial officer training course
10.
Hawker Hunter
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The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing, on 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for jet-powered aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph. The all-weather/night fighter role was filled by the Gloster Javelin, successively improved variants of the type were produced, adopting increasingly more capable engine models and expanding its fuel capacity amongst other modifications being implemented. Hunters were also used by two RAF display teams, the Black Arrows, who on one occasion looped a record-breaking 24 Hunters in formation, and later the Blue Diamonds, the Hunter was also widely exported, serving with a total of 21 overseas air forces. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary roles with the RAF, sixty years after its original introduction it was still in active service, being operated by the Lebanese Air Force until 2014. Overall,1,972 Hunters were manufactured by Hawker Aircraft and its successor, Hawker Siddeley, in British service, the Hunter was replaced in its principal roles by the Lightning, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. During 1945, the Second World War came to a close, Aviation author Derek Wood refers to this policy as being, a fatal error of judgement which was to cost Britain a complete generation of fighters and heavy bomber aircraft. By this time, it had become apparent that newly developed jet propulsion would form the future of fighter aircraft development. Many companies were quick to devise their own designs to harness this means of propulsion, Hawker Aviations chief designer, Sydney Camm, had proposed the Hawker P.1040 for the RAF, but the demonstrator failed to interest them. Further modifications to the design resulted in the Hawker Sea Hawk carrier-based fighter. However, the Sea Hawk possessed a straight wing and was powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine, both features that rapidly became obsolete. Seeking better performance and fulfilment of the Air Ministry Specification E. 38/46, Sydney Camm designed the Hawker P.1052, which was essentially a Sea Hawk outfitted with a 35-degree swept wing. As a private venture, Hawker proceeded to convert the second P.1052 prototype into the Hawker P.1081 with swept tailplanes, a fuselage. In 1951, the sole P.1081 prototype was lost in a crash, in 1946, the British Air Ministry issued Specification F. 43/46, which sought a daytime jet-powered interceptor aircraft. Camm promptly prepared a new design for a fighter that would be powered by the upcoming Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet. Initially fitted with an air intake in the nose and a T-tail. The intakes were moved to the roots to make room for weapons and radar in the nose. On 20 July 1951, the P.1067 made its flight, flown by Neville Duke, from RAF Boscombe Down
