Royal Navy

Naval warfare force of the United Kingdom

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2025 Potential production contract for new Commando Insertion Craft, subject to the Labour government's 2024-25 defence policy review.
2025 Planned deployment of RNMB Ariadne, an unmanned surface vessel
2025 Royal Navy plans to withdraw all Sandown-class mine countermeasure vessels from service, replacing them with autonomous systems and planned 'mothership' vessels.
March 2025 Planned complete retirement of the Royal Navy's two landing platform docks, marking a significant reduction in the service's amphibious warfare capability.
2024 Four vessels of the Squadron (Biter, Blazer, Trumpeter, and Exploit) deployed to northern Norway as part of the NATO exercise 'Steadfast Defender'.
2024 Lt Megan Burgoyne takes command of the University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland, succeeding Lt Cdr Nick Bates
December 2 2024 The position of fleet flagship was rotated to a new vessel on 2 December.
November 2024 Government's decision to retire Albion-class assault ships brought the viability of Littoral Response Groups into question.
November 2024 Newly elected Labour government indicated the retirement of two landing platform docks from the Royal Navy's amphibious capability by March 2025.
June 2024 HMS Puncher and HMS Pursuer embarked personnel from the Navy's Mine and Threat Exploitation Group, deploying for exercises in the Baltic. The vessels operated an IVER 3 Autonomous Vehicle and a Video Ray Defender remotely operated vehicle to find mines on the seabed.
2023 The Commando Raiding Craft (CRC) began entering service with the Royal Marines, replacing the previous Offshore Raiding Craft (ORC). The new craft includes both troop-carrying and fire-support variants, with the latter equipped with machine gun mounts and 40mm grenade launchers.
2023 Royal Marines donated 23 of their 35 Offshore Raiding Craft (ORC) to Ukraine, significantly reducing their original fleet while introducing the new Commando Raiding Craft.
2023 Royal Navy and Marines began seeking a replacement for the LCVP Mk 5, with an objective to secure service entry by 2027 for new Commando Insertion Craft designed for low signature operations, capable of carrying a strike team and small vehicle over 150 miles at 25 knots.
2023 Four ships from Coastal Forces participated in an exercise with the Norwegian Coastal Ranger Command inside the Arctic Circle.
2023 Second Littoral Response Group planned for deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.
2023 The Royal Navy reported significant recruiting challenges, with a net drop of approximately 1,600 personnel (4 percent of the force) from mid-2022 to mid-2023.
2023 Ofsted conducted an inspection of Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) at Dartmouth, revealing significant infrastructure issues including rot, mould, unsafe structures, and equipment problems.
December 2023 Captain Andrew Bray assumes command of Britannia Royal Naval College, succeeding Captain Sarah Oakley.
October 2023 RFA Proteus, a new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship, entered service as part of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's plan to protect undersea cables and gas pipelines and compensate for the withdrawal of ocean-going survey vessels.
February 2023 Acquired a commercial vessel RFA Proteus to act as a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) Ship for protecting critical seabed infrastructure.
2022 Deployment of RNMB Abdiel, an unmanned surface vessel
2022 Cutlass class patrol boat P295 commissioned into the Royal Navy.
2022 Submarine S123 commissioned into the Royal Navy's fleet submarine service.
2022 The most recent Astute-class submarine was commissioned into the Royal Navy's Submarine Service.
2022 The Royal Navy's Fleet Diving Squadron was reorganized and renamed to the Diving and Threat Exploitation Group, now consisting of five squadrons: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo.
2022 Lt Gordon Pickthall begins command of the University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland
2022 Lt Cdr Nick Bates assumes command of the University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland, succeeding Lt Gordon Pickthall
2022 Sub Lieutenant Rowann Sinclair concludes her period with the University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland.
November 2022 Plans for the 'national flagship' were abandoned by the UK Government.
July 29 2022 The Royal Navy christened XV Patrick Blackett, an experimental ship designed as a testbed for autonomous systems, which will participate in Royal Navy and NATO exercises.
June 2022 Rear Admiral Jude Terry approved the unit's name change from URNU Edinburgh to University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland, reflecting its expanded operational area.
May 2022 Captain Neale D. Piper ARRC completes term as Director of Naval Nursing Service
May 2022 Captain Peter J. Selwood assumes leadership as Director of Naval Nursing Service
May 2022 Captain Sarah Oakley becomes commander of Britannia Royal Naval College, marking a significant moment as one of the few female commanders in the college's history.
January 2022 Lt. Rhys Christie left the Royal Navy after being told he may not be fit to continue his career.
January 2022 Tay Division commenced its initial training, establishing itself as a potential model for extending the URNU's geographical footprint across Scottish universities.
2021 Type 83 destroyer was proposed in the Defence Command Paper as a future successor to the Type 45 Destroyer, planned to enter service in the late 2030s.
2021 UK Government announced plans for a new 'national flagship' to be crewed and run by the Royal Navy, intended as a replacement for the Royal Yacht Britannia.
2021 Inter Service matches were cancelled due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions on sporting events.
2021 Deployment of RNMB Apollo, an unmanned surface vessel under 10 tonnes
2021 Introduction of Madfox, an autonomous surface vessel of approximately 10 tonnes, based in Portsmouth
2021 Offshore patrol vessels P234 and P282 (re-commissioned) commissioned into the Royal Navy.
2021 Submarine S122 commissioned into the Royal Navy's fleet submarine service.
2021 A permanent exhibition of Coastal Forces craft, personnel, and history was established in Gosport, highlighting their significant service with 3,000 decorations, including four Victoria Crosses.
2021 First Littoral Response Group based in Europe became operational. UK Carrier Strike Group conducted its first operational deployment.
2021 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, passes away, ending his tenure as Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy.
2021 Multiple University Royal Naval Units established: Solent (Portsmouth), Belfast (Belfast), East Midlands (Chilwell), and a Virtual UK unit.
2021 Nation-wide naming change of URNUs from '[Location] URNU' to 'URNU [Location]' completed by the end of the year.
2021 As part of an URNU-wide naming change, the unit was renamed to University Royal Naval Unit Edinburgh (URNUE).

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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles List of active Royal Marines military watercraft, Britannia Royal Naval College, University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland, Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy, Type system of the Royal Navy, Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, Army Navy Match, Royal Navy, List of active Royal Navy ships, University Royal Naval Unit & Royal Navy Fleet Flagship, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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