The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

is the principal naval warfare service branch of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

. Its assets include both commissioned warships and non-commissioned vessels. As of December 2024, there are 62 commissioned and active ships in the Royal Navy. Of the commissioned vessels, sixteen are major surface combatants (two

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s, six

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

s and eight

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s) and nine are

nuclear-powered submarines A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear weapons, nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically Marine diesel engine, diesel-elect ...

(four

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capabi ...

s and five

fleet submarine A fleet submarine is a submarine with the speed, range, and endurance to operate as part of a navy's battle fleet. Examples of fleet submarines are the British First World War era K class and the American World War II era ''Gato'' class. The ...

s). In addition the Navy possesses seven

mine countermeasures vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Sim ...

s, twenty-six

patrol vessels A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

, two

survey vessel A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the pu ...

s, one

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

and one historic warship, . The total

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of the Royal Navy's commissioned and active ships is approximately 393,000

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s. The Royal Navy also includes a number of smaller non-commissioned assets. The naval training vessels and '' Hindostan'' can be found based at the Royal Navy

stone frigate A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. 'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French ...

s and the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

, respectively. Non-commissioned ''Sea''-class workboats, procured under Project ''Vahana'', are operated by the Royal Navy in various support, survey and training roles, replacing previous P1000 Class Picket Boat vessels. This class of vessel also incorporates an autonomous minehunting variant (known as the ''Arcims''-class), while another autonomous vessel, ''Madfox'', is employed in varied roles including as a testbed for autonomous combat operations. ''Madfox'' and other experimental vessels, including XV ''Patrick Blackett'' and ''APAC-24'' (a crewless Pacific 24 rigid-hulled inflatable boat), are operated by the Fleet Experimentation Squadron within the Disruptive Capabilities and Technologies Office. As of 2025, XV ''Excalibur'', an Extra-Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV), was also operated by the Squadron while other autonomous surface vessels, for minehunting, were in service and in the process of procurement from

Thales Group Thales S.A., Trade name, trading as Thales Group (), is a French multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence industry, defence corporation specializing in electronics. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide variety of aer ...

. Besides the Royal Navy, the

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RF ...

(RFA) and the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

operate their own flotillas of vessels which complement the assets of the Royal Navy. These vessels are not included in this list or the above figures. Nevertheless, combined, the Royal Navy and RFA have 73 vessels with a total displacement of about 671,000 tonnes, with the principal

landing craft of the Royal Marines List of active Royal Marines military watercraft is a list of landing craft and other watercraft in service with the Royal Marines. It consists of a varied fleet of landing craft, patrol vessels and special forces watercraft (I.e. mini submarines ...

having an additional combined displacement of about 2,200 tonnes. As a supporting contingent of

His Majesty's Naval Service His Majesty's Naval Service, referred to colloquially as the Royal Navy, after the primary fighting arm of the service, is the United Kingdom's naval warfare and Sea, maritime service. It consists of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Aux ...

, the civilian Marine Services operate nearly 100 auxiliary ships (including coastal logistics, tugs and research vessels) in support of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary operations. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the Royal Navy operates three main bases where commissioned ships are based:

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...

and

HMNB Clyde His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...

. A number of commissioned vessels, belonging to the University Royal Naval Units (URNU), are stationed at various other locations around the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy's principal overseas base is in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. A general-purpose frigate and vessels belonging to the navy's

9th Mine Counter-Measures Squadron The 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron is a front-line Squadron (naval), squadron of the Royal Navy with responsibility for mine warfare in the Persian Gulf, Persian Gulf region. The squadron is based in Bahrain and, as of 2024-25, is equipped with ...

are forward-deployed there. Two fast patrol boats, together with a forward-deployed River-class offshore patrol vessel, normally form part of the

Gibraltar Squadron The Gibraltar Squadron is a unit of the United Kingdom, British Royal Navy. It is the only seagoing Royal Naval unit based in Gibraltar, attached to British Forces Gibraltar. It currently includes two Cutlass-class patrol vessel, ''Cutlass''-cla ...

and are permanently based there. Four other River-class vessels are also forward-deployed: one in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

, one in the Caribbean and two in the Indo-Pacific region. Additionally, the United Kingdom maintains a Joint Logistics Support Base in Duqm,

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. All ships and submarines currently in commission with the Royal Navy were built in the United Kingdom, with the exceptions of icebreaker which was built in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and survey vessel which was substantially built in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. All commissioned vessels of the Royal Navy bear the

ship prefix A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/na ...

"HMS", for His Majesty's Ship or His Majesty's Submarine.

Ceremonial/Historic ship

Submarine service

Surface fleet

Auxiliary vessels

Gallery

File:HMS Victory at dusk. MOD 45143807.jpg, , Flagship of the First Sea Lord File:Vanguard at Faslane 02.jpg, ''Vanguard'' ( ''Vanguard'' class) File:HMS Ambush long.jpg, ''Ambush'' () File:HMS Queen Elizabeth in Gibraltar - 2018 (28386226189).jpg, ''Queen Elizabeth''
( ''Queen Elizabeth'' class) File:Royal Navy Type 45 Destroyer HMS Daring MOD 45153705.jpg, ''Daring'' ( Type 45 destroyer) File:111024-N-OY799-686 Royal Navy Duke-class frigate HMS St. Albans (F 83).jpg, ''St. Albans'' (

Type 23 frigate The Type 23 frigate or Duke class is a class of frigates built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ships are named after British Dukes, thus leading to the class being commonly known as the Duke class. The first Type 23, , was commission ...

) File:HMS Forth formally gets commissioned into the Royal Navy 13042018 MOD 45164104.jpg, ''Forth'' (River class) File:HMS_Hurworth_MOD_45151313.jpg, ''Hurworth'' (Hunt class) File:Sandown Class Mine Hunter HMS Ramsey MOD.jpg, ''Ramsey'' (''Sandown'' class) File:P2000 Class Royal Navy Patrol Vessel HMS Raider MOD 45151351.jpg, ''Raider'' (''Archer'' class) File:HMS Cutlass (P295).jpg, ''Cutlass'' (''Cutlass'' class) File:HMS Scott at Port Lockroy MOD 45151219.jpg, ''Scott'' File:Royal Navy Antarctic Patrol Ship HMS Protector MOD 45153156.jpg, ''Protector'' File:HMS Magpie (H130) on River Dart.jpg, ''Magpie'' (''Sea'' class) File:XV Patrick Blackett, starboard side at sea (cropped).jpg, XV ''Patrick Blackett'' File:FUTURE MINE HUNTING SYSTEM COMES TO CLYDE MOD 45166088.jpg, RNMB ''Harrier'' (''Arcims'' class) File:Madfox Autonomous Surface Vehicle MOD 45167736.jpg, ''Madfox'' File:Aerial photograph of Portsmouth Dockyard taken during a Photex, taken from 2,000 feet. MOD 45144949.jpg, ''Excellent''

Silhouettes

Silhouettes of major fleet units: Queen Elizabeth class silhouette.jpg, - (R08) & (R09) Type45Destroyer Silhouette.png, Type 45 or ''Daring''-class destroyer - (D32), (D33), (D34), (D35), (D36) & (D37) Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate silhouette.png, Type 23 or ''Duke''-class frigate - (F229), (F234), (F239), (F82), (F81), (F78), (F79) & (F83) Vangaurd class SSBN silhouette.png, - (S28), (S29), (S30) & (S31) Astute class SSN silhouette.png, - (S119), (S120), (S121), (S122) & (S123) Silhouettes of all Royal Navy and RFA units: RoyalNavy2024

Footnotes

References

External links

Royal Navy
(royalnavy.mod.uk)
Royal Navy — The Equipment — Ships
(royalnavy.mod.uk) {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Active Royal Navy Ships Active