Talk:History of the Royal Navy

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At 23K, this is already a lengthy article, and I found that it was simply impossible to mention every notable battle and person; just "name-dropping" of wars, trends, and milestones filled it up the space. 20th century could use some more detail and/or links to other articles with more depth, while the early stuff is a little longer because there is little material elsewhere. There could also be more on changes to sailors' lives. We have plenty of pics to reuse, each section should have one or two. Stan 19:43, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

It does not seem particularly long to me. After all it has section breaks, etc.--Toddy1 18:33, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

The last sentence "and despite being at war since September 2001 the United Kingdom's forces suffered further savage cuts in 2004" does not really come from a neutral POV.

Britain is not "at war" in the traditional sense - it has been engaged in military action in Afghanistan and Iraq (as well as other places). The term "savage cuts" is no doubt the view of many, others would consider them prudent and yet others insufficient.

I'd suggest: "the strength of the Royal Navy was reduced further in 2004". Some detail on the nature of the cuts would be useful, as would a table of naval strength against time?

[edit] Blue, red and white squadrons

There should be something here about the three squadrons of the Royal Navy prior to the 1864 reorganization. AndyL 04:47, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Battleship section

"Both naval construction and naval strategizing became intense, prompted by the development of torpedoes and submarines, which challenged traditional ideas about the power of battleships. At the same time the Dreadnought committed to the "big gun" concept and caused a shift in thinking around the world, giving Britain the undisputed lead. Another innovative (though ultimately unsuccessful) concept was the battlecruiser, fast and light but still hard-hitting."

I would have to disagree with this point. The invention of the dreadnought made most other battleships pretty much useless. Britain had 1 dreadnought, the others zero. BUT, a lead of one ship is not an undisputable lead, as other nations can quickly catch up. It would, in fact, have been harder for the others to catch up if the dreadnought had not been invented, as they'd have to build much more ships to do this (not just ten, twenty, but possibly a hundred). Anyone agree on changing that sentence a bit...? --HJV 01:09, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

"The invention of the dreadnought made most other battleships pretty much useless." Not really. In general Wikipedia articles contain a lot of unreferenced opinion. Things could be improved a lot by justifying statements with quotes and facts, and footnotes quoting sources.

[edit] Naval construction

I have just stumbled across this in old Times articles - no idea where to put it, but it might be worth noting somewhere for future reference. Shimgray | talk | 23:47, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

1937 construction programme: 3x battleships (King George V class), 2x aircraft carriers, 5x 8,000 ton cruisers, 2x 5,300 ton cruisers, 16x destroyers ("repeat J type"), 7x submarines ("Patrol type"), 3x escort vessels, 4x minesweepers, 3x patrol vessels, various small vessels.

1933 construction programme: 4x cruisers (various types), 9x destroyers, 3x submarines, 1x coastal sloop, various small vessels

1930 construction programme: 3x 6in cruisers, 9x destroyers, 3x submarines, 4x sloops, 1x netlayer.

1927 construction programme: 3x cruisers, 9x destroyers, 6x submarines, 2x minesweepers. (Two cruisers were later cancelled; the third was Exeter.)

Why not create some tables and charts showing strength or programmes over that time?--Toddy1 18:33, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

removed " and the capture of Louisbourg in North America " from Austrian Succession. That was a colonial expedition. RN was 1758 Shimgray | talk | 23:47, 1 June 2006 (UTC)?

ROYAL NAVY AUXILLARY SERVICE

I've seen that name mentioned on the RN talk page, exactly what was/is that and how was it different from the RFA or RNVR.

207.159.196.253 18:15, 3 December 2006 (UTC)