Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest part of the British fighting forces. Because it is the oldest, it is called the "Senior Service". From the 18th century until World War II, it was the largest and strongest navy in the world. The Royal Navy was very important in making Britain the superpower of that time. The Naval Service is made up of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Fleet Air Arm and reserve forces. The Naval Service had 57,000 personnel (people) as of November 2011 including part-time reserve sailors, airmen and marines.

The Royal Navy is one of the largest navies in the world in terms of gross tonnage (weight and size of all their ships). The Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary have 98 ships including aircraft carriers, submarines, minesweepers and patrol vessels as well as the ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. All ships in the Royal Navy are called "Her Majesty's ships" (Or HMS for short), because by constitution the Queen owns them and has command over them. Ships in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are called "Royal Fleet Auxiliaries" (Or RFA for short) and are also technically owned by the Queen. In times of a male monarch the "Her" is replaced with "His".