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John Jervis, 1st Earl Of St Vincent

John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent

The Right Honourable John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, GCB (9 January 1735–14 March 1823) was an Admiral in the Royal Navy. Jervis was born at Meaford in Staffordshire, and entered the Navy in 1749. He reached the rank of Lieutenant in 1755, and that same year took part in the conquest of Quebec. In 1760 he was promoted to Post-Captain, and commanded various ships in the Mediterranean and the English Channel. He served as Captain throughout the War of American Independence, and fought in the Battle of Ushant in 1778. Jervis was made a Knight of the Bath after his capture of the French ship Pegase in 1782, and the following year he entered Parliament, representing Launceston (and later Yarmouth) as a Whig. In 1787 he attained flag rank, and in 1788 he married his cousin Martha Parker. With the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars he was put into service in the West Indies co-operating with the Army in the conquest of the French islands. On return to Great Britain in 1795 he was promoted to Admiral. In November he took command in the Mediterranean, where he maintained the blockade of Toulon, and aided the allies of Great Britain in Italy. He was Commander-in-Chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet from 1796 to 1799. One of his chief duties was to watch the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. He defeated the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. For this victory he was created Baron Jervis, of Meaford in the County of Stafford, and Earl of St Vincent. That same year, however, the Spithead and Nore mutinies threatened the Navy. He prevented any outbreak in his command through foresight and severity, including the flogging and hanging of sailors and public berating of his officers, one of whom, Sir John Orde challenged him to a duel. Nevertheless, he raised the discipline of the Navy to a higher level than it had reached before; he was always ready to promote good officers, and the efficiency of the squadron with which Lord Nelson won the Battle of the Nile was largely due to him. Lord St Vincent resigned his command temporarily in 1799, due to his failing health, but he recovered and resumed command the following year, and became First Lord of the Admiralty in 1801, also being created Viscount St Vincent, of Meaford in the County of Stafford, with a special remainder. He took command of the Channel fleet from 1806 to 1807, and retired from the Navy in 1811. In 1821 he was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on the occasion of the coronation of King George IV. When he died in 1823, the Barony of Jervis and the Earldom of St Vincent became extinct, but the Viscountcy of St Vincent passed to his nephew. There is a monument to him in St. Paul's Cathedral, and portraits of him at different periods of his life are numerous. :"I do not say, my Lords, that the French will not come. I say only they will not come by sea". addressing the House of Lords as First Lord of the Admiralty in 1801.

External links

- EB11 - [http://97.1911encyclopedia.org/S/ST/ST_VINCENT_JOHN_JERVIS_EARL_OF.htm ST VINCENT, JOHN JERVIS, EARL OF]
- http://www.aboutnelson.co.uk/jervis.htm
- [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~usher/ushersct/1826.htm Debrett's Peerage 1805] Saint Vincent, John Jervis, 1st Earl of Saint Vincent, John Jervis, 1st Earl of Saint Vincent, John Jervis, 1st Earl of Saint Vincent, John Jervis, 1st Earl of Saint Vincent, John Jervis, 1st Earl of Category:Napoleonic wars British naval commanders

The Right Honourable

The Right Honourable (abbreviated "The Rt Hon." or "The Right Hon.") is an honorific prefix which is traditionally applied to certain classes of people in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other Commonwealth Realms.

Entitlement

People entitled to the prefix in a personal capacity are:
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
- This includes all current and former members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, which is a committee of the Privy Council;
- Barons, viscounts and earls (marquesses are "The Most Honourable" and dukes are "The Most Noble" or "His Grace", and, if Privy Councillors, retain these higher styles); and
- The holders of certain offices of state in some Commonwealth realms (e.g. in Canada, the Governor General, Prime Minister and Chief Justice). In order to differentiate peers who are Privy Counsellors from those who are not, sometimes the suffix PC is added to the title. In addition some people are entitled to the prefix in an official capacity, i.e. the prefix is added to the name of the office, but not the name of the person:
- The Lord Mayors of London, Dublin, Cardiff, Belfast, York and Bristol; and of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart; and
- The Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow. All other Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts are "The Right Worshipful".

Corporate entities

The prefix is also added to the name of various corporate entities, e.g.:
- The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal (of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Lords);
- The Right Honourable the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses (now usually the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Commons); and
- The Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (the Board of Admiralty)
- The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations (the Board of Trade) See also the corporate use of "Most Honourable," as in "The Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council" (the Privy Council).

Use of the honorific

The honorific is normally only used on the front of envelopes and other written documents: for example, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP is otherwise referred to simply as "Mr Blair". In the House of Commons, members refer to each other as "the honourable member for ..." or "the right honourable member for ..." depending upon whether or not they are Privy Counsellors. However the title "the honourable member" is only a parliamentary term and is not used outside the House. When a married woman holds this style, she uses her own given name in her style. So, when Mrs. Denis Thatcher was made a Privy Counsellor, she didn't become The Right Honourable Mrs. Denis Thatcher or The Right Honourable Mrs Thatcher, but became The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher.

Outside the United Kingdom

Generally within the Commonwealth, ministers and judges are The Honourable unless they are appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, in which case they are The Right Honourable. Such persons generally include Prime Ministers and judges of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, and several other Commonwealth prime ministers.

Australia

In Australia some Premiers of the Australian colonies in the 19th century were appointed members of the UK Privy Council and were thus entitled to be called The Right Honourable. After Federation in 1901, the Governor-General, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the Prime Minister and some other senior ministers held the title. There has never been an Australian Privy Council. In 1972 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam declined appointment to the Privy Council, but the practice was resumed by Malcolm Fraser in 1975. In 1983 Bob Hawke declined the appointment, and the appointment of Australians to the Privy Council was abolished shortly thereafter. The last Governor-General to be entitled to the style was Ninian Stephen. The last politician to be entitled to the style was Ian Sinclair, who retired in 1998. The only living Australians holding the title The Right Honourable for life are:
- Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister
- Sir Zelman Cowen, former Governor-General
- Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister
- Ian Sinclair, former Leader of the National Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Sir Ninian Stephen, former Governor-General
- Reginald Withers, former Senator, Minister, and Lord Mayor of Perth. The Lord Mayors of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart are styled The Right Honourable, but the style (which has no connection with the Privy Council) attaches to the title of Lord Mayor, and not to their names, and is relinquished upon leaving office.

Canada

In Canada, members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada receive the honorific The Honourable, with only the occupants of the most senior public offices being made The Right Honourable, as they used to be appointed to the British Privy Council. L'Honorable and le Très Honorable are used in French by the federal government, but the Office québécois de la langue française (the Quebec government body setting standards for the French language) considers them improper loan expressions and advises the use of Monsieur and Madame (Mr. and Ms.) instead. Although appointments of Canadians to the British Privy Council have ceased, the following public servants are domestically awarded the style The Right Honourable for life:
- the Governor General of Canada
- the Prime Minister of Canada
- the Chief Justice of Canada. (Governors General also use the style His/Her Excellency during their term of office.) Several prominent Canadians (mostly politicians) have become members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and have thus been entitled to use the title Right Honourable, either because of their services in Britain (e.g. serving as envoys to London) or as members of the Imperial War Cabinet, or due to their prominence in the Canadian Cabinet. These include:
- Sir John A. Macdonald (1879)1
- Sir John Rose (1886)
- Sir John Sparrow David Thompson (1894)1
- Sir Samuel Henry Strong (1897)4
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1897)1
- Sir Richard John Cartwright (1902)
- Sir Henri Elzéar Taschereau (1904)4
- Sir Charles Tupper (1907)1
- Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (1908)4
- Sir Robert Laird Borden (1912)1
- Sir George Eulas Foster (1916)
- Sir Louis Henry Davies (1919)4
- Lyman Poore Duff (1919)6
- Arthur Lewis Sifton (1920)
- Arthur Meighen (1920)1
- Charles Doherty (1920)
- Sir William Thomas White (1920)
- William Lyon Mackenzie King (1922)1
- William Stevens Fielding (1923)
- Francis Alexander Anglin (1925)4
- Sir William Mulock (1925)
- George Perry Graham (1925)
- R.B. Bennett (1930)1
- Sir George Halsey Perley (1931)
- Ernest Lapointe (1937)
- Vincent Massey (1941)3
- Raoul Dandurand (1941)
- Louis St. Laurent (1946)2
- James Lorimer Ilsley (1946)
- Clarence Decatur Howe (1946)
- Ian Alistair Mackenzie (1947)
- James Garfield Gardiner (1947)
- Thibaudeau Rinfret (1947)4
- John George Diefenbaker (1957)1
- Georges-Philéas Vanier (1963)5
- Lester Bowles Pearson (1963)1 1 - As Prime Minister. 2 - Tupper was appointed when he was no longer Prime Minister and St. Laurent was appointed when he was a cabinet minister under Mackenzie King. 3 - Massey became Governor General over a decade later. He was made "Right Honourable" while serving as Canada's High Commissioner to London. 4 - As Chief Justice of Canada 5 - As Governor General of Canada. 6 - Duff did not become Chief Justice until 1933. Canadian appointments to the British Privy Council were ended by the government of Lester Pearson. Since then, the style may only be granted for life by the Governor General to eminent Canadians who have not held any of the offices that would otherwise entitle them to the style. It has been granted to the following individuals:
- Paul Joseph James Martin (1992)
- Martial Asselin (1992)
- Ellen Fairclough (1992)
- Jean-Luc Pépin (1992)
- Alvin Hamilton (1992)
- Don Mazankowski (1992)
- Jack Pickersgill (1992)
- Robert Stanfield (1992)
- Herb Gray (2002)

Ireland

The Irish Privy Council was abolished with the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922; nevertheless the Lord Mayor of Dublin, like his counterparts in the United Kingdom, retains the usage of the honorific; the Lord Mayor of Cork has never been entitled to the title. The remaining members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland are entitled to be styled The Right Honourable.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the Prime Minister is customarily appointed to the British Privy Council and is styled The Right Honourable. However, the current Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has not recommended any new Privy Counsellors. The Governor-General is also usually a Privy Counsellor, but the current Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, is not. In any case the Governor-General as a plenipotentiary representative is entitled to the style "Excellency". At present there are only two Privy Counsellors in the New Zealand Parliament, both appointed by previous Prime Ministers: Helen Clark (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1993) and Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer in 1996). Privy Counsellors recently retired include the former Speaker of the House, Jonathan Hunt (appointed by Geoffrey Palmer in recognition of long service in 1989), who retired from Parliament in 2005 to become New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley (appointed upon becoming Prime Minister in 1997), who stepped down from Parliament at the 2002 election.

External links

- [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/pe/titre_e.cfm Current list of Canadian notables possessing some form of honorific] (incl. Rt. Hon.) Category:Titles

9 January

January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 356 days remaining (357 in leap years).

Events

- 1431 - The trial of Joan of Arc begins in Rouen, the seat of the English occupation government.
- 1760 - Afghans defeat Marathas in Battle of Barari Ghat.
- 1768 - Philip Astley stages the first modern circus (London).
- 1788 - Connecticut becomes the fifth state to join the United States.
- 1793 - Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first to fly in a balloon in the United States.
- 1806 - Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.
- 1839 - The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
- 1857 - Fort Tejon earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 7.9
- 1858 - Anson Jones, final President of the Republic of Texas commits suicide.
- 1861 - Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union, preceding the American Civil War.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Fort Hindman
- 1878 - Humbert I becomes King of Italy.
- 1880 - The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow.
- 1882 - Oscar Wilde gives his first lecture on "The English Renaissance of Art" in New York.
- 1894 - New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
- 1903 - Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the famous poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia
- 1905 - According to the Julian Calendar which was used at the time, Russian workers stage a march on the Winter Palace that ends in the massacre by Czarist troops known as Bloody Sunday, setting off the Russian Revolution of 1905.
- 1912 - Marines invade Honduras.
- 1916 - The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Çanakkale, as the last British troops are evacuated.
- 1917 - Battle of Rafa
- 1923 - Juan de la Cierva makes first autogiro flight.
- 1929 - The Seeing Eye is established with the mission to train dogs to assist the blind (Nashville, Tennessee).
- 1937 - The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States.
- 1945 - The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
- 1951 - United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City.
- 1956 - First "Dear Abby" column appears in newspapers.
- 1960 - Construction of the Aswan Dam begins in Egypt.
- 1962 - The NFL prohibits grabbing face masks.
- 1964 - Several Panamanian youths put up the Panamanian flag, and are fired on from the Canal Zone, setting off four days of anti-imperialist insurrection around the country.
- 1972 - RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire (Hong Kong harbor).
- 1977 - Super Bowl XI: Oakland Raiders defeat Minnesota Vikings, 32-14.
- 1984 - Clara Peller is featured in the "Where's the Beef?" commercial campaign for Wendy's Restaurants for the first time.
- 1986 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves the instant camera business.
- 1989 - The Sega Genesis is released in New York, New York and Los Angeles, California.
- 1991 - The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
- 1995 - Valeri Poliakov completes 366 days in space while aboard the Mir space station, breaking a duration record.
- 1996 - Sun Microsystems announces the formation of JavaSoft.
- 1997 - A Comair Embraer 120 crashes during approach into Detroit Metro Airport, killing 29.
- 1999 - After nearly 16 years of operation, the Horizons pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot closes permanently. It is razed more than a year later to make way for the new Mission: SPACE attraction.
- 2002 - The United States Department of Justice announces it is going to pursue a criminal investigation of Enron.
- 2005 - Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat.

Births

1554 to 1899

- 1554 - Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
- 1571 - Karel Bonaventura Buquoy, French soldier (d. 1621)
- 1589 - Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet (d. 1638)
- 1624 - Empress Meisho of Japan (d. 1696)
- 1685 - Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist (d. 1766)
- 1728 - Thomas Warton, English poet (d. 1790)
- 1790 - Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish poet (b. 1790)
- 1811 - Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (d. 1856)
- 1823 - Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (d. 1908)
- 1829 - Thomas William Robertson, English playwright (d. 1871)
- 1829 - Adolf von Schlagintweit, German explorer (d. 1857)
- 1854 - Jennie Jerome, American society beauty (d. 1921)
- 1856 - Anton Aškerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
- 1864 - Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician (d. 1926)
- 1868 - S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist (d. 1939)
- 1870 - Joseph B Strauss, American civil engineer (d. 1938)
- 1873 - Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian poet and translator (d. 1934)
- 1875 - Gertrude Whitney, American sculptor (d. 1942)
- 1879 - John Broadus Watson, American behaviorist psychologist (d. 1958)
- 1881 - Lascelles Abercrombie, British poet and critic (d. 1938)
- 1881 - Giovanni Papini, Italian writer (d. 1956)
- 1890 - Karel Čapek, Czech writer (d. 1938)
- 1890 - Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist, writer, satirist, and social critic (d. 1935)
- 1892 - Eva Bowring, American politician (d. 1985)
- 1897 - Karl Löwith, German philosopher (d. 1973)
- 1898 - Vilma Banky, Hungarian actress (d. 1991)
- 1898 - Gracie Fields, English vaudeville performer (d. 1979)
- 1899 - Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian composer (d. 1977)

1900 to 1999

- 1901 - Chic Young, cartoonist (d. 1973)
- 1902 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian-born opera manager (d. 1997)
- 1902 - Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish religious author (d. 1975)
- 1904 (O. S.)- George Balanchine, Russian dancer, choreographer, and ballet producer (d. 1983)
- 1908 - Simone de Beauvoir, French author (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Ralph Tubbs, British architect
- 1913 - Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
- 1914 - Kenny (Klook) Clarke, American jazz drummer and composer
- 1915 - Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor (d. 1982)
- 1915 - Les Paul, American guitarist and inventor
- 1916 - Vic Mizzy, American orchestra leader
- 1916 - Peter Twinn, English mathematician and World War II code-breaker (d. 2004)
- 1917 - Herbert Lom, Czech actor
- 1920 - Clive Dunn, British actor
- 1922 - Har Gobind Khorana, Indian biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1922 - Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea (d. 1984)
- 1925 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
- 1928 - Judith Krantz, American author
- 1928 - Domenico Modugno, Italian singer and songwriter
- 1929 - Heiner Muller, German dramatist (d. 1995)
- 1929 - Dorothea Puente, American serial killer
- 1931 - Algis Budrys, American author
- 1932 - Robert P. Casey, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1934 - Bart Starr, American football player
- 1935 - Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1935 - Dick Enberg, American sportscaster
- 1936 - Anne Rivers Siddons, American writer
- 1940 - Jimmy Boyd, American actor, singer
- 1940 - Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
- 1940 - Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss politician
- 1941 - Joan Baez, American singer and activist
- 1942 - K Callan, American actress
- 1942 - Susannah York, British actress
- 1944 - Jimmy Page, English guitarist (Led Zeppelin)
- 1950 - David Johansen American singer
- 1950 - Rio Reiser, German singer (d. 1996)
- 1951 - Crystal Gayle, American singer
- 1952 - Hugh Bayley, British politician
- 1955 - J. K. Simmons, American actor
- 1956 - Kimberly Beck, American actress
- 1956 - Imelda Staunton, British actress
- 1958 - Mehmet Ali Ağca, Turkish attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II
- 1959 - Mark Martin, NASCAR driver
- 1959 - Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1959 - Cristi Minculescu, Romanian musician
- 1963 - Michael Everson, American expert in writing systems and Unicode
- 1965 - Eric Erlandson, American musician (Hole)
- 1965 - Joely Richardson, British actress
- 1967 - Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
- 1967 - Steven Harwell, American singer and musician (Smash Mouth)
- 1967 - Dave Matthews, South African singer and musician
- 1968 - Jimmy Adams, West Indian cricketer
- 1975 - Angela Bettis, American actress
- 1978 - Chad Johnson, American football player
- 1978 - AJ McLean, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
- 1980 - Sergio García, Spanish golfer

Deaths

1283 to 1899

- 1283 - Wen Tianxiang, Chinese prime minister (executed) (b. 1236)
- 1499 - Johann Cicero, elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
- 1514 - Anna, Duchess of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France (b. 1477)
- 1543 - Guillaume du Bellay, French diplomat and general (b. 1491)
- 1562 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1514)
- 1571 - Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French naval officer (b. 1510)
- 1598 - Jasper Heywood, English translator (b. 1553)
- 1757 - Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters (b. 1657)
- 1677 - Aernout van der Neer, Dutch cartoonist and painter (b. 1603)
- 1766 - Thomas Birch, British historian (b. 1705)
- 1799 - Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian scientist (b. 1718)
- 1800 - Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
- 1805 - Noble Jones, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
- 1848 - Caroline Herschel, German-born astronomer (b. 1750)
- 1858 - Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (suicide) (b. 1798)
- 1873 - Emperor Napoleon III of France (b. 1808)
- 1876 - Samuel Gridley Howe, American abolitionist (b. 1801)
- 1878 - King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
- 1895 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American watch manufacturer (b. 1812)

1900 to 1999

- 1901 - Richard Copley Christie, English scholar (b. 1830)
- 1908 - Wilhelm Busch, German painter (b. 1832)
- 1908 - Abraham Goldfaden, Russian-born actor (b. 1840)
- 1911 - Edwin Arthur Jones, American composer (b. 1853)
- 1918 - Émile Reynaud, French scientist (b. 1844)
- 1923 - Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer (b. 1888)
- 1936 - John Gilbert, American actor (b. 1899)
- 1939 - Johann Strauss III, Austrian conductor (b. 1866)
- 1946 - Countee Cullen, American poet (b. 1903)
- 1947 - Karl Mannheim, German sociologist (b. 1893)
- 1961 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1867)
- 1971 - Elmer Flick, baseball player (b. 1876)
- 1972 - Ted Shawn, American dancer (b. 1891)
- 1975 - Pierre Fresnay, French actor (b. 1897)
- 1979 - Sara Carter, American singer, guitarist (b. 1898)
- 1981 - Kazimierz Serocki, Polish composer (b. 1922)
- 1984 - Wolfgang Staudte, German director (b. 1906)
- 1985 - Robert Mayer, British businessman and philantropist (b. 1879)
- 1987 - Marion Hutton, American singer (b. 1919)
- 1987 - Arthur Lake, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Spud Chandler, baseball player (b. 1907)
- 1992 - Bill Naughton, British playwright (b. 1910)
- 1993 - Svetoslav Roerich, Russian painter (b. 1904)
- 1994 - Johnny Temple, baseball player (b. 1927)
- 1995 - Peter Cook, British actor. satirist, writer, and comedian (b. 1937)
- 1995 - Souphanouvong, President of Laos (b. 1909)
- 1997 - Edward Osobka-Morawski, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
- 1998 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (1918)

2000 onwards

- 2000 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
- 2003 - Will McDonough, American sports journalist (b. 1935)
- 2005 - Gonzalo Gavira, Mexican film sound technician (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

- 1788 - Ratification Day in Connecticut
- 1822 - "I Will Stay" Day, when the portuguese prince Pedro decided to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portugal king João VI, starting the brazilian independence process.
- 1964 - Memorial day of Patriotic Panamanians for the Panama Canal (Martyrs' Day/Dia de los Martires)
- Roman Catholic - Feast of Saint Adrian
- Eastern Orthodox - Feast of Saint Theophan the Recluse
- Philippines - Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo district, Manila.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/9 BBC: On This Day] ---- January 8 - January 10 - December 9 - February 9 — listing of all days ko:1월 9일 ms:9 Januari ja:1月9日 simple:January 9 th:9 มกราคม

14 March

March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in Leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. March 14, written 3-14 in the USA date format, is also an unofficial celebration for Pi Day derived from the common three-digit approximation for the number π: 3.14. It is usually celebrated at 1:59 PM (in recognition of the six-digit approximation: 3.14159). Some, using a twenty-four-hour clock rather than a twelve hour clock, say that 1:59 PM is actually 13:59 and celebrate it at 1:59 AM or 3:09 PM (15:09) instead. Parties have been held by mathematics departments of various schools around the world.

Events

- 1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice.
- 1492 - Queen Isabella of Castille orders her 150,000 Jewish subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
- 1590 - Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne during the French Wars of Religion.
- 1647 - Thirty Years War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.
- 1757 - On-board the HMS Monarch, Admiral John Byng is executed by firing squad for neglecting his duty.
- 1794 - Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.
- 1800 - Cardinal Barnaba Chiaramonti is elected Pope Pius VII
- 1869 - Defeat of Titokowaru.
- 1900 - The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing United States currency on the gold standard.
- 1903 - The Hay-Herran Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Columbian Senate would later reject the treaty.
- 1903 - Theodore Roosevelt issues an executive order making Pelican Island, in Florida, a “preserve and breeding ground for native birds,” marking the birth of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
- 1915 - World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the disastrous Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden is abandoned and scuttled by her crew.
- 1923 - Pete Parker does the first-ever complete radio broadcast of a hockey game in the world, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
- 1939 - German troops fully occupy the Czechoslovak provinces of Bohemia and Moravia.
- 1951 - Korean War: For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul.
- 1959 - J.R.D.A.C.I. founded at a congress in Treichville, Côte d'Ivoire.
- 1964 - A jury in Dallas, Texas finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
- 1966 - Phillip Stephen Oakland (Budd); born known for his work as Seafront Manager for the people of Eastbourne.
- 1967 - The body of President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.
- 1978 - The Israeli Defense Force, in retaliation for a terrorist attack three days earlier, invades and occupies southern Lebanon, under codename Operation Litani, resulting in the evacuation of at least 100,000 Lebanese, approximately 2,000 deaths, as well as the creation of United Nations Interim Forces In Lebanon (UNIFIL).
- 1979 - In China, a Hawker-Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.
- 1980 - In Poland, a plane crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others.
- 1984 - Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.
- 1989 - Gun control: President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of assault rifles into the United States.
- 1991 - After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a pub in an Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence.
- 1994 - Timeline of Linux development: Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released.
- 1995 - Manned space mission: Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on-board a Russian launch vehicle.
- 1996 - American President Bill Clinton commits $100 million to an anti-terrorism agreement with Israel to track down and root out terrorists.
- 1997 - The Chinese city of Chongqing (formerly Chunking) is upgraded to a centrally administered municipality
- 1998 - An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hits southeastern Iran.
- 2004 - Pope John Paul II becomes the second-longest serving pope in history.
- 2004 - Vladimir Putin is re-elected president of Russia, while the PSOE wins elections in Spain just days after terrorist attacks in Madrid.
- 2005 - The online statistics service SOTKAnet is opened for the public in Finland.
- 2005 - Mass Protest against Syrian influence in Lebanon takes place in Beirut.

Births

- 1638 - Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (d. 1710)
- 1681 - Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer (d. 1767)
- 1804 - Johann Strauß, Sr., Austrian composer (d. 1849)
- 1813 - Joseph Philo Bradley, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1892)
- 1823 - Théodore de Banville, French writer (d. 1891)
- 1835 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (d. 1910)
- 1844 - King Umberto I of Italy (d. 1900)
- 1853 - Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (d. 1918)
- 1854 - Paul Ehrlich, German scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1915)
- 1869 - Algernon Blackwood, British writer (d. 1951)
- 1879 - Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- 1882 - Waclaw Sierpinski, Polish mathematician (d. 1969)
- 1885 - Raoul Lufbery, American World War I pilot (d. 1918)
- 1887 - Sylvia Beach, American publisher (d. 1962)
- 1903 - Mustafa Barzani, Kurdish politician (d. 1979)
- 1912 - Les Brown, American band leader (d. 2001)
- 1914 - Bill Owen, British actor (d. 1999)
- 1914 - Lee Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
- 1915 - Alexander Brott, Canadian conductor and composer (d. 2005)
- 1916 - Horton Foote, American writer
- 1920 - Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
- 1923 - Diane Arbus, American photographer (d. 1971)
- 1925 - Francis A. Marzen, American Catholic prelate
- 1925 - William Clay Ford, Sr., Ford Motor Co. Director Emeritus, Detroit Lions Football Franchise Owner
- 1928 - Frank Borman, astronaut and airline executive
- 1933 - Michael Caine, British actor
- 1933 - Quincy Jones, American music producer and composer
- 1934 - Eugene Cernan, astronaut
- 1938 - Angus Maclise, American mystic, shaman, musician, and composer (d. 1979)
- 1941 - Wolfgang Petersen, German director
- 1945 - Jasper Carrott, British comedian
- 1946 - Steve Kanaly, American actor
- 1947 - Billy Crystal, American actor and comedian
- 1947 - Pam Ayres, British poet
- 1950 - Rick Dees, American disc jockey
- 1956 - Jonathan Bowen, British computer scientist
- 1957 - Andrew Robinson, British editor and author
- 1958 - Albert II, Prince of Monaco
- 1961 - Kirby Puckett, baseball player
- 1961 - Penny Johnson Jerald, American actress
- 1963 - Bruce Reid, Australian cricketer
- 1965 - Aamir Khan, Indian actor
- 1965 - Kevin Brown, baseball player
- 1965 - Kevin Williamson, American screenwriter
- 1976 - Catherine Dent, American actress
- 1976 - Merlin Santana, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1977 - Mervyn Colley, British kabbalist and ceremonial magician
- 1978 - Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
- 1979 - Chris Klein, American actor
- 1981 - Mei-Ting Sun, Chinese-born pianist
- 1983 - Bakhtiyar Artayev, Kazakh boxer
- 1983 - Taylor Hanson, American musician (Hanson)
- 1986 - Jamie Bell, British actor
- 1990 - Christopher Halligan, American Actor

Deaths

- 752 - Pope Zacharias
- 1457 - Jingtai Emperor of China (b. 1428)
- 1471 - Sir Thomas Malory, English author
- 1647 - Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (b. 1584)
- 1648 - Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (b. 1584)
- 1680 - René Le Bossu, French critic (b. 1631)
- 1682 - Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruysdael, Dutch painter
- 1696 - Jean Domat, French jurist (b. 1625)
- 1698 - Claes Rålamb, Swedish statesman (b. 1622)
- 1748 - George Wade, British military leader (b. 1673)
- 1757 - John Byng, British admiral (executed) (b. 1704)
- 1791 - Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (b. 1725)
- 1803 - Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German writer (b. 1724)
- 1823 - Charles François Dumouriez, French general (b. 1739)
- 1883 - Karl Marx, German political theorist (b. 1818)
- 1884 - Quintino Sella, Italian statesman (b. 1827)
- 1932 - George Eastman, American inventor (b. 1854)
- 1973 - Rafael Godoy, Colombian composer (b. 1907)
- 1973 - Chic Young, American cartoonist (b. 1901)
- 1975 - Susan Hayward, American actress (b. 1917)
- 1976 - Busby Berkeley, American choreographer and director (b. 1895)
- 1977 - Fannie Lou Hamer, American civil rights activist (b. 1917)
- 1989 - Edward Abbey, American author (b. 1927)
- 1991 - Howard Ashman, American lyricist (b. 1950)
- 1991 - Doc Pomus, American composer (b. 1925)
- 1995 - William Alfred Fowler, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1997 - Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-born director (b. 1907)
- 2002 - Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher
- 2002 - Cherry Wilder, New Zealand-born author (b. 1930)
- 2003 - Jack Goldstein, Canadian-born artist (b. 1945)
- 2003 - Jean-Luc Lagardère, French publisher (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

- Commonwealth Day (2005, second Monday in March)
- Japan - White Day: Japanese holiday similar to Valentines Day (men give gifts to women, as opposed to Valentine's Day, when women give gifts to men).
- Pi Day - unofficial holiday
- Roman Empire - Equirria, horse races in honor of Mars were held.

Other notes

- Microsoft Excel, a popular spreadsheet program, uses March 14th, 2001, in many recent versions as the sample date when editing date formatting.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/14 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/3/14 Today in History: March 14] ---- March 13 - March 15 - February 14 - April 14 -- listing of all days ko:3월 14일 ja:3月14日 simple:March 14 th:14 มีนาคม

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the "senior service" of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. From approximately 1692 until World War II, the Royal Navy was the largest and most powerful navy in the world. The navy helped establish the United Kingdom as the dominant military and economic power of the 18th century and the 19th century, and was essential for maintaining the British Empire. Although the Royal Navy is now much smaller, it remains the largest Western European navy, the second largest navy in the world in terms of gross tonnage, and one of the world's most technologically advanced. It formed the basis for most other navies with few exceptions, and masses of sailors from Commonwealth and NATO Navies attend Royal Naval Training Programmes in Britain. The end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union has precipitated a restructuring of the Royal Navy's role as a major naval player in the 21st century, from that of a deterrence force to a navy capable of extending British foreign policy worldwide.

Naval service

Officially, the Royal Navy is properly only one of the components of the Naval Service, which also includes the Royal Marines, the Royal Naval Reserve, etc. In common usage, however, the whole service is referred to as the Royal Navy; so while it is technically incorrect to say, for example, that the Royal Marines are part of the Royal Navy, it is good enough for most purposes (although possibly unwise within earshot of a bootneck).

History

:Main article: History of the Royal Navy The Royal Navy has historically played a central role in the defence and warfare of Britain. Because Britain is surrounded by seas, any enemy power (at least, before aircraft) would have had to cross by sea in order to attack. Attainment of naval superiority by any hostile power would have placed the nation in great peril. Moreover, a strong navy was vital in maintaining the security of supply and communication links with distant locations in the Empire.

England (c. 800 to c. 1700)

England's first navy was established in the 9th century by Alfred the Great, but soon fell into disrepair. The Norman kings started an equivalent in 1155 with the creation of the Cinque Ports alliance and the establishment of the post of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. This was effective during the Plantagenet years, but like most institutions of the type fell into disarray and disuse. The first reformation and major expansion of the Navy Royal, as it was then known, occurred in the 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII whose ships, Henri Grâce a Dieu ("Great Harry") and Mary Rose, engaged the French navy in the battle of the Solent in 1545. By the time of Henry's death in 1547 his fleet had grown to 58 vessels. In 1588 the Spanish Empire, at the time Europe's great superpower, threatened England with invasion and the Spanish Armada set sail to enforce Spain's dominance over the English Channel and transport troops from the Spanish Netherlands to England. However, the armada failed, due to a combination of repeated successful attacks by the Royal Navy of England, bad weather and a revolt by the Dutch in Spain's territories across the Channel. The defeat of the armada is the first major victory by the English at sea. However the Drake-Norris Expedition of 1589 saw the tide of war turn against the Royal Navy. England continued to raid Spain's ports and ships travelling across the Atlantic Ocean under the reign of Elizabeth I but was to suffer a series of damaging defeats against a reformed Spanish navy.

1692-1815

A permanent Naval Service didn't really exist until the mid-17th century when the Fleet Royal was taken under Parliamentary control following the defeat of Charles I in the English Civil War. This second reformation of the navy was carried out under Admiral Robert Blake during Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth. The incorporation of the Royal Navy was in contrast to the land forces, which are descended from variety of different sources including both royal and anti-royal Parliamentary forces. After having suffered defeats in the second and third Anglo-Dutch wars the Royal Navy was the strongest navy in the world from 1692 to 1940 (the Dutch navy being placed under control of the Royal Navy by William III's command following the Glorious Revolution), with almost uncontested power over the world's oceans from 1805 to 1914, when it came to be said that Britain ruled the waves. In that time, the Royal Navy suffered only one major defeat—the battle of the Chesapeake against France in 1781—and was able to defeat all challengers, as at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 where a combined French and Spanish fleet was decisively beaten by a smaller but more experienced British fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson. The victory at Trafalgar consolidated Britain's advantage over other European maritime powers. By concentrating its military resources in the navy it could both defend itself and project its power across the oceans as well as threaten or disrupt rivals' ocean trading routes. Britain therefore only needed to maintain a relatively small, highly mobile, professional army that could be dispatched to where it was needed by sea, as well as be given support by the navy both with bombardment, movement, supplies and reinforcement. Meanwhile rivals could have their sea-borne supplies cut off, as occurred with Napoleon's army in Egypt. Other major European powers were forced to split their resources between maintaining both a large navy and enormous armies and fortifications to defend their land frontiers. The domination of the sea therefore allowed Britain to rapidly build its empire, especially from the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and throughout the 19th century, giving Britain enormous military, political and commercial advantages.

1815-1914

During the 19th century the Royal Navy was also busy in enforcing the ban on the slave trade and the suppression of piracy. Another task the Royal navy was given during the 19th century (and before and after as well), was to map the world. Mostly, this involved the seas and oceans, recording every coast line in a scrupulous effort to provide this information for humanity. To this day, Admiralty charts are continously updated by the Royal Navy, as they always have been. In addition, Royal Navy vessels on such surveying missions carried out extensive scientific work. On one such voyage, Charles Darwin traveled around the world on the HMS Beagle, making scientific observations which later influenced his development of the theory of evolution. Life in the early Royal Navy would be considered harsh by today's standards; discipline was severe and flogging was used to enforce obedience to the Articles of War. The law allowed the Navy to use the unpopular practice of impressment where seamen were forced to serve in the Navy during times of manpower shortage, usually in wartime. Impressment reached its peak in the 18th and early 19th century but was abandoned after the end of the Napoleonic Wars as the peacetime Navy was smaller. During the later half of the 19th century, ships of the Royal Navy were used for "Gunboat Diplomacy". For this, large, heavily armed gunboats with shallow draught were employed in coastal areas in the far reaches of the Empire, to mostly assure the local population/ruler of Britain's power, and to also interfere where Britain's interests were at stake. Napoleonic Wars

1914–1945

During the two World Wars, the Royal Navy played a vital role in keeping the United Kingdom supplied with food, arms, and raw materials, and in defeating the German campaigns of unrestricted submarine warfare in the first and second battles of the Atlantic. During the First World War it fought in several sea battles, Battle of Heligoland Bight, Battle of Coronel, Battle of the Falkland Islands, Battle of Dogger Bank and Dardanelles Campaign, but the Battle of Jutland is the most well known. The Royal Navy was also vital in guarding the sea lanes that enabled British forces to fight in remote parts of the world such as North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Far East. Naval supremacy was vital to the amphibious operations carried out, such as the invasions of Northwest Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Normandy. See British military history of World War II. British military history of World War II

The Cold War

After World War II, the growing power of the United States and the decline of the British Empire reduced the role of the Royal Navy. However the threat of the Soviet Union and continuing British commitments throughout the world created a new and important role for the Navy. In the 1960s, the Royal Navy received its first nuclear weapons and was later to become the sole carrier of the UK's nuclear deterrent. In the latter stages of the Cold War, the Royal Navy was reconfigured with three anti-submarine warfare aircraft carriers and a force of small frigates and destroyers. Its purpose was to search for and, if necessary, destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic. North Atlantic.]]

Recent operations

The most important post-war operation conducted solely by the Royal Navy was the defeat in 1982 of Argentina in the Falkland Islands War. Despite losing 4 naval ships and other civilian and RFA ships as well as having other ships damaged to a greater or lesser extent, the Royal Navy proved it was still able to fight a battle 8,000 miles (12,800 km) from the British mainland. The war also underlined the critical importance and power of aircraft carriers and submarines, and exposed the service's late 20th century dependency on chartered merchant vessels. The Royal Navy also participated in the Gulf War, the Kosovo conflict, the Afghanistan Campaign, and the 2003 Iraq War, the last of which saw RN warships bombard positions in support of the Al Faw Peninsula landings by Royal Marines. Also during that war, HM submarines Splendid and Turbulent launched a number of Tomahawk cruise missiles on a variety of targets in Iraq.

The Royal Navy today

Iraq The Royal Navy is currently deployed in many areas of the world.

Atlantic Patrol Task (North)

Atlantic Patrol Task (North) is normally carried out by a single warship and/or RFA vessel in the Caribbean during the hurricane season from May to November.

Atlantic Patrol Task (South)

Atlantic Patrol Task (South) constitutes the RN's considerable commitment to the South Atlantic and West African areas which is comprised of single warship accompanied by an RFA vessel. Additionally, a vessel is permanently deployed as the Falkland Islands Guardship. This invariably tends to be a Castle-class patrol vessel. Also, Endurance is deployed for half the year as an Ice Patrol Ship.

UK waters

In UK waters, the protection of fishery areas and offshore gas and oil installations is provided by the Fishery Protection Squadron. This is comprised of the new River-class patrol vessels, with a varying number of Hunt-class minesweepers that rotate fishery protection duties with their mine counter measures work. Additionally a Fleet Ready Escort (FRE), made up of a single warship to provide a rapid response at short notice for a variety of tasks required of the vessel and a ready aircraft carrier flagship and escort vessels are available for one-off deployments.

The Persian Gulf

The RN also maintains a significant presence in the Persian Gulf. Currently, a single warship and a supporting RFA vessel is on patrol as part of Operation Oracle and the Armilla Patrol, another aspect of the UK's contribution to the War on Terror. This vessel is also available for tasking anywhere East-of-Suez.

The Far East

Though a permanent RN presence in the Far East and Pacific regions has ended, the RN is able to deploy a significant Naval Task Group (NTG) for task specific operations and commonly deploys approximately every three years as part of the Five Powers Defence Arrangements (FPDA). Recent Far East Naval Task Groups

NATO Standing Naval Force

The RN also has a substantial commitment to NATO. The UK normally provides a single warship to the NATO Response Force, part of the Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED) Recently changing to Standing Naval Maritime Group (SNMG2). The RN also usually provides a Mine Countermeasures vessel to Mine Countermeasures Force (North) and Mine Countermeasures Force (South), both important permanent NATO squadrons. At all times the RN also deploys a Vanguard class submarine SSBN to maintain the British nuclear deterrent.

Names

Nicknames for the Royal Navy include "The Mob", "The Andrew", and "The Senior Service". Nowadays the British sailor usually refers to himself as "Jack" rather than "Jacktar". Foreign nicknames for a British sailor are "Limey". In port towns like Portsmouth and Plymouth they are often referred to as "Matelots" (pronounced 'matloes' the French word for sailor) or more derogatively as "skates" (due to the alleged sexual abuse of these fish). Royal Marines are fondly known as "Bootnecks" or often just referred to as "Royal" The British Royal Navy is commonly referred to as "The Royal Navy" both inside and outside the United Kingdom. Commonwealth navies also include their national name e.g. Royal Australian Navy. However, there are other navies, such as the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy) which are also simply called the "Royal Navy" in their own language. The book Jackspeak by Rick Jolly [http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Rick%2C%20Jolly/202-0907656-4033414] and illustrated by the cartoonist Tugg provides an informal history of naval lanuage. The Napoleonic campaigns of the navy have been the subject of many novels including Patrick O'Brian's series featuring Jack Aubrey, C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower, and Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho.

Ships of the Royal Navy

see main article at: List of ships of the Royal Navy Commissioned (surface) ships of the Royal Navy are accorded the prefix HMS which stands for Her Majesty's Ship (alternatively, His Majesty's Ship), like HMS Ark Royal. Submarines on the other hand are styled HM Submarine, though still abbreviated HMS. Fleet support units, usually manned by civilians are given the prefix RFA or Royal Fleet Auxiliary, such as RFA Sir Galahad. The Royal Navy has the following classes of vessel in use today:
Image:HMS Invincible.jpg|HMS Invincible, Invincible-class aircraft carrier Image:HMS Illustrious 1.jpg|HMS Illustrious, Invincible-class aircraft carrier Image:Hmsocean.600pix.jpg|HMS Ocean, Landing Platform Helicopter Image:HMS Albion (L14).jpg|HMS Albion, Landing Platform Dock Image:HMS Manchester (D95) Type 42 destroyer.jpg|HMS Manchester, Type 42 Destroyer Image:Hmskentf78.jpg|HMS Kent, Type 23 Frigate Image:HMS Cornwall (F99).jpg|HMS Cornwall, Type 22 Frigate Image:HMS Leeds Castle (P258).jpg|HMS Leeds Castle, Castle-class patrol boat Image:Hms-bristol-d23.jpg|HMS Bristol, Type 82 destroyer Image:Vanguard class image.jpg|HMS Vanguard, Vanguard-class submarine Image:HMS Sceptre S104 (Swiftsure-class submarine).jpg|HMS Sceptre, Swiftsure-class submarine Image:Echo.jpg|HMS Echo, survey vessel

Command of the Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is established under the royal prerogative, and the head of the Royal Navy, known as the Lord High Admiral, is the Queen (who is overall head of the UK Armed Forces). In earlier times the office of Lord High Admiral was delegated to a naval officer. The office later came to be frequently put into commission, during which time the Royal Navy was run by a board headed by the First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1964 the functions of the Admiralty were transferred to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Defence Council of the United Kingdom. Since then, the historic title of Lord High Admiral has been restored to the Sovereign. The functions of the Defence Council that concern the administration of the Naval Service are formally delegated to an Admiralty Board and its sub-committee, the Navy Board, which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy. The professional head of the Royal Navy is the First Sea Lord (who also holds the title of Chief of the Naval Staff). The current incumbent is Admiral Sir Alan West.

Commanders-in-Chief

Historically, the Royal Navy has usually been split into several commands, each with a Commander-in-Chief, e.g. Commander-in-Chief Plymouth, Commander-in-Chief China Station, etc. There now remain only two Commanders-in-Chief, Commander-in-Chief Fleet and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, and it is planned that these two commands will soon amalgamate. In 1971, with the withdrawal from Singapore, the Eastern and Western fleets of the Royal Navy were unified into one command under the Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET). It was initially based at