Royal Marines

Royal Marines, amphibious infantry force, and branch of the British Navy, (Royal Navy). The Royal Marines is a mobile, independent, and flexible force unique within the armed forces. Its principal unit, 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, is a core component of the United Kingdom's Joint Rapid Reaction Force, and on permanent readiness for deployment, by the navy, anywhere around the globe.

The Royal Marines’ origins date from 1664 when the 1,200-strong Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot was created by the Lord High Admiral to provide long-service troops on English naval ships. These “marines” were used to maintain discipline aboard ship, defend the ship from attack, form boarding and landing parties, and operate the ship’s armaments, as well as perform the functions of seamen; soon marines would be found on all warships. In 1704 they played a significant role in the capture and defence of Gibraltar during the War of the Spanish Succession, and thereafter were vital in the various conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries that saw the Royal Navy project British imperial power throughout the world. By World War I the Royal Navy was the largest navy in the world, and all its ships above that of destroyer size had detachments of marines. During that conflict marines saw action in the amphibious assault at Gallipoli in 1915, and the raid on Zeebrugge harbour in 1918. In World War II the Royal Marines reached their peak strength of around 80,000. In 1942 the Royal Marine Commandos were formed, specifically for seaborne assaults. During the war the marines saw notable action in the Dieppe and Saint-Nazaire operations, as well as in the main Allied landings at Sicily, Salerno, and Normandy, where 16,000 of their number took part.

Since World War II the Royal Marines have been deployed in Malaya (now part of Malaysia), Korea, Borneo, Suez, Cyprus, Aden (now part of Yemen), Northern Ireland, Kuwait, Iraq, Bosnia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. In 1982 they played a prominent role in the Falklands War. In recent years the amphibious capability of the Royal Marines has been greatly increased with new helicopter landing platforms and assault ships, allowing them a much greater capacity to intervene in overseas conflicts, notably their instant availability to participate in operations in Afghanistan in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. In the following year they accepted into their ranks their first ever woman marine. The present strength of the Royal Marines is about 6,000.

The main establishment of the Royal Marines is the Commando Training Centre, which has been at Lympstone, Devon, since the 1960s, although a Royal Marines camp had been established there in 1939. Other bases are sited at Poole Harbour, Dorset, the Amphibious Trials and Training Unit, at Instow, Devon, and the Fleet Royal Marines Protection Group based at Condor in eastern Scotland.