page_title: History of the Royal Navy (after 1707)
section_title: Operations after 1982
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Royal Navy (after 1707) / Cold War era, 1945-1991 / Operations after 1982
caption_attribution_description: Northern Persian Gulf rendezvous: Ships of the British Royal Navy's Third Mine Countermeasures Squadron briefly meet the aircraft carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS (left). The Faslane Based Mine Hunters INVERNES, BRIDPORT, and SANDOWN (right), were accompanied by their support ship Royal Fleet Forward Repair Ship, DILIGENCE (center front) and the survey ship HMS HERALD (center rear).
context_page_description: The official history of the Royal Navy reached an important juncture in 1707, when the Act of Union merged the kingdoms of England and the Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, following a century of personal union between the two countries. This had the effect of merging the Royal Scots Navy into the Royal Navy. The Navy grew considerably during the global struggle with France that had started in 1690 and culminated in the Napoleonic Wars, a time when the practice of fighting under sail was developed to its highest point. The ensuing century of general peace saw Britain virtually uncontested on the seas, and considerable technological development. Sail yielded to steam and cannon supplanted by large shell-firing guns, and ending with the race to construct bigger and better battleships. That race, however, was ultimately a dead end, as aircraft carriers and submarines came to the fore and, after the successes of World War II, the Royal Navy yielded its formerly preeminent place to the United States Navy.
context_section_description: In the latter stages of the Cold War, the Royal Navy was reconfigured with three anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft carriers and a force of frigates and destroyers. Its purpose was to search for and destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic. There were also mine countermeasures and submarine forces as well as support ships. As the Cold War ended, the Royal Navy fought in the Gulf War against Iraq, with Sea Skua anti-ship missiles sinking a large proportion of the Iraqi Navy.
caption: Royal Navy ships in the Persian Gulf during 1998
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