I.

Introduction

British Navy, Britain’s maritime armed force, usually known as the Royal Navy. It shares joint responsibility, with the British Army and the Royal Air Force (RAF), for the defence of the United Kingdom and its dependent territories; provides a major part of the naval force of NATO; and carries Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent. It was the world’s most powerful navy until World War II, after which it was the world’s second-largest, after the United States Navy.