Great Britain. Royal Navy - Safeguarding the nation: the story of the modern Royal Navy

This tribute is the story of what the Royal Navy has done and its many great achievements over the last fifty
years. It is an account of the numerous operations, actions, engagements and deployments over that period.
Time, space and the Official Secrets Act have limited the scope for developing certain aspects of the whole picture
and some subjects have perforce had to remain largely outside the coverage of this tribute. Those matters have
included covert submarine operations and incidents during the Cold War, the evolution and implementation
of tactical doctrine and the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, the development and integration of certain
sophisticated sensors and weapons systems, information technology and data handling, and command, control
and communications equipments. Other issues such as funding, budgeting, recruiting, changing shipboard
living conditions etc have also not been developed in this tribute.

The views expressed in this book are those of the writer, and many contributors, and do not necessarily represent
the views of the Royal Navy or Her Majestys Government.

The White Ensign Association is especially indebted to the Naval Historical Branch, Navy News,
the Royal Naval Museum, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, the Fleet Air Arm Museum,
the Fleet Photographic Unit and the Director of Public Relations (Navy).

The White Ensign Association is very grateful to Amlin, a marine insurer at Lloyds for over
one hundred years, for very kindly sponsoring the production and distribution of this book.

THE WHITE ENSIGN ASSOCIATION LTD
HMS Belfast
Tooley Street, London, SE1 2JH

Copyright John Roberts 2009

First published in Great Britain in 2009 by
Seaforth Publishing,
Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
47 Church Street,
Barnsley S70 2AS

www.seaforthpublishing.com

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 84832 043 7
PDF ISBN: 978 1 78346 564 4
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 78383 030 5
PRC ISBN: 978 1 78346 797 6

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission
in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

The right of John Roberts to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Typeset and designed by Roger Daniels
Printed and bound in Thailand

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated by the White Ensign Associationto all those men and women who have served in the Royal Navy,the Royal Marines and their Reserves

Contents

FOREWORD

Admiral His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales KG, KT, OM, GCB, AK, QSO, ADC
Patron of the White Ensign Association

I am delighted to have the opportunity to write the foreword to this important book, which pays tribute to the Royal Navy on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the White Ensign Association. As the Association works so closely with the Royal Navy it is in a unique and privileged position to observe and comment on the many great achievements of the Service over the last half century. This book highlights the impressive record of what the Royal Navy has done and I hope will help to bring awareness to many.

For several hundred years the Royal Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and played a key role in building and defending the British Empire which, in the late nineteenth century, covered a large proportion of the globe. The huge burden of two World Wars, however, led to the end of the British Empire, which then became the British Commonwealth of Nations. It was inevitable after the Second World War that the Armed Forces would face major changes and those finally came with the far-reaching Defence Review of 1957. The consequent reordering of Britains defences brought large scale reductions in equipment and manpower, and established new priorities. The Royal Navy, along with the other two Services, had to adjust during a difficult period of transformation to meet the requirements of the post imperial era. Throughout those years the Navy had to maintain its key role in the defence of the United Kingdom and her many interests worldwide and was involved in numerous operations, engagements and confrontations, from the Cold War and Cod Wars to the Falklands Campaign and Gulf Wars of this century. The story of how well the Royal Navy coped with those difficult changes and the demanding tasks it was called upon to perform are set out in this record of its service and many achievements. It shows clearly how the Navy has continued to safeguard the nation.

It was the cuts in naval manpower in 1957 which led to the establishment of the White Ensign Association in the City of London by my Great Uncle, Lord Mountbatten, in June 1958. He was the First Sea Lord at that time and was determined to help all those officers and men leaving the Service under the Duncan Sandys Axe. The 1957 Defence Review had called for very substantial reductions in the Fleet and for Naval Manpower to be cut by 26,000 in four years, which necessitated a redundancy programme. A great many of those leaving needed help and the Association provided much of that necessary assistance. It then became apparent that this unique charity should extend its help to include all those serving, which it duly did.

Over those fifty years the Association has maintained station on the Royal Navy providing faithful support and assisting a huge number of officers, men and women with a whole range of services. The Association serves the entire Naval Community assessed at around one million in 2005, including all ranks and rates, serving, resettling and retired and, of course, their families. Although the Royal Navy has reduced in size, particularly over the last twenty years or so, its role is undiminished and there seems to be no reduction in the calls for assistance.

As Patron of the Association, I take a close interest in its many activities and derive much pride from the tremendous support it still provides to all those who serve, particularly in these difficult times. I am also pleased that the Association has used its unique position, close alongside, to provide this tribute to the Royal Navy.

PREFACE

Commodore Sir Donald Gosling KCVO, RNR
President of the White Ensign Association

The White Ensign Association has had the great honour of serving the Royal Navy over the past fifty years, since it was founded by Admiral of the Fleet the Earl Mountbatten of Burma in June 1958. Throughout that time the Association has worked very closely alongside the members of the Naval Services of the Crown and has helped well in excess of 37,000 people as well as briefing over 100,000 of them. The Association has therefore been in a privileged position to observe those men and women carrying out their many tasks and witness the great changes that have taken place in the Service over that time.