Royal Navy: When was the Royal Navy formed? Who formed it? Why? How has it changed?

Portsmouth Naval Base has been an integral part of the city since 1194. It is home to almost two-thirds of the Royal Navy's surface ships, including the flagship aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince Of Wales, the formidable Type 45 destroyers, Type 23 frigates and mine countermeasures and fishery protection squadrons.

The history of the Royal Navy is embedded in the history of the country. As an island nation, the sea has always been a vital factor, acting as the means of people arriving from overseas, a barrier to invaders, a highway for trade and the basis for a once-global empire.

When was the Royal Navy formed?

The Royal Navy was created between 1509 and 1660.

Who formed the Royal Navy?

The Royal Navy was formed by Henry VIII.

What is the history behind it’s establishment?

Aware of the growing importance of naval power, Henry VIII built up his own standing fleet, known as the Navy Royal. This enlarged fleet required a more developed administration which eventually saw the establishment of the 'Navy Board'.

When Civil War broke out, the Commonwealth regime created the most powerful and effectively run fleet Britain had ever seen. When King Charles II came to the throne in 1660 he inherited a huge fleet of 154 ships; this was the beginning of a permanent and professional Royal Navy as we know it today.

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When was the rise of the Royal Navy?

From 1660-1815, Britain was establishing itself as the dominant naval power, but maintaining this status was often hard-fought. After two wars against the Dutch with little success, a series of notable victories over the French marked these years.

But France was far from defenceless inflicting a defeat an the Anglo-Dutch fleet at Beachy Head in 1690. The eighteenth century saw remarkable successes in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Nelson's famous victory at Trafalgar effectively ended any further contest at sea.

Other Portsmouth connections?

One of Henry VIII's 'great ships', Mary Rose was named after the king's favourite sister Mary and the Tudor emblem the Rose. On 19 July 1545, the Mary Rose sank during an engagement with a French invasion fleet just over a mile from the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. The wreck of the Mary Rose was raised from the seabed in October 1982 and is now in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, at the Mary Rose Museum.