Royal Navy Research Articles

From warships to whaleships: Former Royal Navy vessels entering the South Seas fishery in the post-Napoleonic period, 1815–1845

During Britain's conflicts between 1793 and 1815, the Royal Navy changed markedly. New classes of smaller warships were introduced, with numerous vessels built to Admiralty (King's Yard) designs in private shipyards rather than the Royal Dockyards. Many were sloops-of-war, flush-decked and unrated vessels, carrying 20 guns or fewer, that proved versatile in operations around the world. After 1815, the size of the fleet was reduced. Initially many vessels were kept in reserve, but eventually most were sold for mercantile service or breaking, some of the latter also then being resold for merchant use. These vessels proved attractive to long-established whaling owners and new entrants to the whaling trade alike. Such warship-to-whaleship transitions are examined through vessels entering the British southern whale fishery in the post-Napoleonic period between 1815 and 1845.

Book Review: Tempest: The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolutions by James Davey

Book Review: <i>Tempest: The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolutions</i> by James Davey

Germany in the Melbourne Punch, 1855–1914: British Entanglement or Autonomous Developments?

This article explores the representation of Germany and the Germans in the pages of the Melbourne Punch (1855–1925). Grounding its imagery in contemporary racial stereotyping of Germans, Melbourne Punch commented in muted terms on German immigration and the events of 1870–71 but reacted with alarm at the sudden arrival of the Kaiserreich as an expanding imperial power in the Asia-Pacific in 1884–85. The consolidation of this presence in the 1890s, combined with the simultaneous threat posed to Australia’s security via Germany’s challenge to the Royal Navy, raised antagonism to extremes (more so than in comparable British publications like the London Punch). The fear of Prussian military culture threatening Australia’s liberal-British society was expressed palpably in ordinary weekly numbers, as well as in dedicated special issues of 1898 and 1909, which featured Germanophobic invasion stories, anticipating – but never approaching – the hatred towards the ‘Hun’ during the Great War.

Operating itself safely: merging the concepts of ‘safe to operate’ and ‘operate safely’ for lethal autonomous weapons systems containing artificial intelligence

ABSTRACT The Ministry of Defence, specifically the Royal Navy, uses the ‘Duty Holder Structure’ to manage how it complies with deviations to maritime laws and health and safety regulations where military necessity requires it. The output statements ensuring compliance are ‘safe to operate’ certification for all platforms and equipment, and the ‘operate safely’ declaration for people who are suitably trained within the organisation. Together this forms the Safety Case. Consider a handgun; the weapon has calibration, design and maintenance certification to prove it is safe to operate, and the soldier is trained to be qualified competent to make predictable judgement calls on how and when to pull the trigger (operate safely). Picture those statements as separate circles drawn on a Venn diagram. As levels of autonomy and complexity are dialled up the two circles converge. Should autonomy increase to the point that the decision to fire be under the control of an Artificial Intelligence within the weapon’s software then the two circles will overlap. This paper details research conclusions within the overlap, and proposes a new methodology able to certify that an AI based autonomous weapons system is “safe to operate itself safely” when in an autonomous state.

Audio surveillance, communication technologies and the submarine threat during the First World War

Abstract This paper is a summary of a talk, “Hydrophones and piezoelectricity: Ernest Rutherford and anti-submarine innovations in the Royal Navy during World War I”, presented at the HAPP Physics and the Great War one-day conference in 2015, which in turn was based on research for a journal article co-authored with Paul Coleman published in History and Technology journal in 2016 as “Listening in the dark: audio surveillance, communication technologies, and the submarine threat during the First World War” [1]. This paper explores the pivotal role of acoustic surveillance, communication technologies including wireless telegraphy and the development of the hydrophone and other naval technologies as a response to the German U-boat submarine threat during the First World War. The First World War was the first truly global industrial conflict with all belligerents having access to new and adapted technologies including aircraft, sophisticated artillery, wireless telegraphy and submarines. The conflict marked a significant shift in naval warfare with the widespread use of submarines or U-boats by the German military. “Listening in the dark” highlights the challenges faced by the Allied Forces in countering the U-boat threat, emphasising the need for innovative organisational changes and the development of cutting-edge technologies through combined civilian-military research, particularly in the realm of electro-acoustic listening and wireless communication. By the War’s conclusion naval warfare had ultimately transformed to prioritise enhanced listening capabilities over traditional visual methods.

A Boston Schooner in the Royal Navy, 1768–1772: Commerce and Conflict in Maritime British America by Phillip Reid (review)

A Boston Schooner in the Royal Navy, 1768–1772: Commerce and Conflict in Maritime British America by Phillip Reid (review)

The Leaving of Halifax: The abrupt recall of Admiral Sir William Parker in 1801

This article aims to clarify the origins of the animosity that developed between Admiral Sir William Parker (1742–1802), one of the Royal Navy’s senior commanders at the battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797, and Admiral Sir John Jervis, who became Earl St Vincent following the victory. It traces the deterioration of their relationship, which culminated in Parker’s recall from his final post in Halifax, where he was serving as commander in chief of the North Atlantic Station, a few months after St Vincent was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in 1801. On his return to England, Parker requested a court martial to clear his name and was acquitted of any wrongdoing.

GRAVES’ CONCERNS: THE 1841–2 XANTHOS EXPEDITION

The expeditions removing and excavating antiquities at the site of Xanthos in Lycia (1841–4) have been highlighted by scholars as setting a new precedent for whole-sale collection from a single site, and the support – through the national museum and the Royal Navy – of the British government for archaeological endeavours. Questions remain, however, regarding the failure of the first mission to remove the antiquities. According to the current narrative, the blame rests on the navy officer assigned to support Charles Fellows. Based on archival research, this article presents the concerns that Commander Thomas Graves had with the undertaking. His perspective sheds new light on how ill-planned the initial attempts were, and consequently how much was learned. The obstacles encountered in the first Xanthos expedition spurred developments in archaeological practice, introduced by people of non-academic professions.

Tempest: The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolutions by James Davey (review)

Tempest: The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolutions by James Davey (review)

Building a Defence Manpower Planning Tool Using Survival Analysis Models

ABSTRACT A vibrant economy results in strong competition in the marketplace for highly skilled and versatile workforce. Therefore, the retention of such workers is an important issue for most organisations, including the Royal Navy, which is sensitive to economic pressures from the civilian economy. This paper considers early exits from the Royal Navy as the termination of an individual’s career in the naval force at any time before the termination of their contractual agreement with the organisation. The paper uses a survival analysis model to forecast/predict early exits from the Royal Navy and help build a defence manpower planning tool to manage retentions. At the micro-level, it provides two sets of predictions, the first on who is more likely to leave early, and the second on when that event is most likely to occur. At the aggregate level, the predictive model provides a management tool for performing stress testing in relation to potential changes in economic and labour market conditions and how the heterogeneous skilled workforce within the organisation is likely to respond to different changes.

‘Largely a matter of sentiment’? The demise of the battleship in the post-1945 Royal Navy

Abstract Received wisdom suggests that a conservative, even sentimental Royal Navy clung to the battleship long after it ceased to have any strategic rationale; that the battleship finally disappeared due to its vulnerability; and that its withdrawal was imposed on a reluctant admiralty by more enlightened politicians. This article challenges each of these assertions to argue that the admiralty in fact had a reasoned case for temporarily retaining battleships; they departed because other capabilities could better perform their role; and the admiralty actively developed these replacements, while rapidly shrinking and retiring its battleship fleet in the face of some political resistance.

New Crusade: The Royal Navy and British Navalism, 1884–1914, by Bradley Cesario

<i>New Crusade: The Royal Navy and British Navalism, 1884–1914</i>, by Bradley Cesario

Hunting the Royal Navy’s Medical ‘Snark’: Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment of Tropical Neurosis in British Sailors, 1943–1945

Summary Between 1943 and 1945, Britain’s Royal Naval Medical Service dispatched urgent missions to investigate physiological and psychological effects suffered by British sailors who were deployed in tropical climates. This article draws on the resulting, previously neglected, medical articles and medical research reports to examine understandings of ‘tropical neurosis’ in the wartime Fleet. Exploring how tropical neurosis was encountered, framed and explained by senior naval medical professionals, this article investigates the condition’s portrayal as a serious health and military risk during the Second World War. This research analyses hitherto unexplored intersections of constructions of race, gender and environment in British naval medical conclusions and recommendations, delivering significant new understandings of the insidious operation of medical racism in Britain’s wartime armed forces. It also establishes, for the first time, how this ambiguous illness was construed as a threat to Britain’s naval war effort, and even the very future of Empire, by the Navy’s medical branch.

Anthony Bruce, Anson: Royal Navy Commander and Statesman, 1697-1762 by Thomas Malcomson

Anthony Bruce, Anson: Royal Navy Commander and Statesman, 1697-1762 by Thomas Malcomson

Was the 600-ship navy a chimera? Budgets, force structure, and the political realities behind Reagan-era naval strategy

ABSTRACT In 2018, Secretary of the Navy John Lehman admitted that the daring Ocean Venture operation of 1981 – when U.S. and Royal Navy ships as part of a wider NATO exercise proceeded north of the Arctic Circle and penetrated within bombing range of Soviet naval bases – was in fact a ‘bluff’ because various technologies necessary for U.S. naval forces to operate deep in Soviet waters were not yet ready. They eventually were, but what about the fleet that would use them? The Reagan Administration championed the construction of a 600-Ship Navy with fifteen aircraft carrier battlegroups as central to its defense buildup, but Lehman recognized that the fleet was only viable if he implemented reforms to limit rising weapons costs. The planners responsible for long-term analysis of the Navy’s budget countered that Lehman’s plans were unrealistic and pressed him to ask Congress for more money. This was impossible because it would have run contrary to the Reagan Administration’s wider defense policies, which focused on the defense of Central Europe, and upset the delicate budgetary truce between the U.S. military services. Ultimately, political and budgetary realities were as important as strategic imperatives in shaping the size and composition of the U.S. Navy during its 1980s ‘renaissance’.

Efficacy of neuromuscular exercises to promote movement quality and reduce musculoskeletal injury during initial military training in Royal Navy recruits

IntroductionMusculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) are a significant problem in the Royal Navy, contributing to 48% of all medical discharges from service between 2019 and 2020. The objective of the study was...

Trade and Nautical Tradition: The Rise and Fall of Rum

For an extended period, limited academics have focused on the depiction of rum culture within Treasure Island. Drawing upon the historical context of the Age of Navigation, this study identified Rum as a type of beverage of slave, originating from the colonial era. Furthermore, functioning as a symbol of nautical tradition, it fostered a connection between pirates and the Royal Navy, thereby promoting the maritime dominance of the British Empire.

Angus Konstam, Naval Battle of Crete: The Royal Navy at Breaking Point by Ian Dew

Angus Konstam, Naval Battle of Crete: The Royal Navy at Breaking Point by Ian Dew

Angus Konstam, Warships in the Baltic Campaign 1918-20: The Royal Navy takes on the Bolsheviks by Charles Ross Patterson II

Angus Konstam, Warships in the Baltic Campaign 1918-20: The Royal Navy takes on the Bolsheviks by Charles Ross Patterson II

Learning From the USS John S McCain Incident

Since the last time the Royal Navy took significant casualties at sea, institutional memory of the response has faded, while our understanding of mental health issues and treatment has increased. Ryan Easterday and Charlotte Evans use a tragic collision at sea as a case study to examine the mental health challenges experienced by the surviving crew following a mass casualty event, as well as actions taken to address those challenges. By assessing those actions against observed outcomes and research-based mental health best practices, the authors identify several lines of effort that leaders can employ to ensure Royal Navy readiness for similar challenges in the future. ■