The Royal Navy was a naval division of the armed forces of Old Britain, a nation on Earth. The division's flag carried on its vessels from 1801 onward, was called the "White Ensign" and one of these was seen on Geordi La Forge's model of HMS Victory. HMS was a common registry prefix for ships in the Royal Navy. (TNG: "Elementary, Dear Data")
The Submarine Service was the submarine-based branch of the Royal Navy. (ENT: "Minefield")
History[]
The Royal Navy fought in the Battle of Trafalgar against the French and Spanish under the command of Lord Nelson aboard the famous HMS Victory. One participant in this famous naval engagement was an ancestor of Jean-Luc Picard, captain of USS Enterprise-D. (Star Trek Generations)
HMS Pinafore was an operetta about a Royal Navy sailor, written and composed by Gilbert and Sullivan in 1878. (Star Trek: Insurrection)
HMS Bounty was a 18th century Royal Navy sailing ship that was well known for having its crew mutiny against its captain, William Bligh. In 2286, Doctor Leonard McCoy dubbed a captured Klingon Bird-of-Prey HMS Bounty in a "fine sense of historical irony." Admiral James T. Kirk continued in his log, stating, "like those mutineers of five hundred years ago, we too have a hard choice to make." (VOY: "Year of Hell, Part II"; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
The Royal Navy continued to exist into the 22nd century when it may also have controlled at least two spacefaring ships, HMS New Zealand and HMS Lord Nelson. (TNG: "Up The Long Ladder")
Malcolm Reed's family came from a Naval background – the Reed men had been Navy men for generations, including Malcolm's grandfather who served as an ordnance officer, and great-uncle who served with the Submarine Service as chief engineer on HMS Clement. As a child Malcolm wished to serve in the Royal Navy but later found he had aquaphobia – this was a great disappointment to his father. Commander Charles Tucker referred to this naval history when he asked him to find out where they were, after being stranded in open space, in 2152. (ENT: "Silent Enemy", "Minefield", "Shuttlepod One")
In 2154, Captain Jonathan Archer also appealed to Reed's naval background, in particular its tradition of honor and service, when he suspected Reed of working against him. (ENT: "Affliction")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
The official march of the Royal Navy is "Heart of Oak".
According to several production background reference sources, the following Starfleet starships were named after historical Royal Navy vessels or commanders:
- USS Eagle (Constitution II-class) was named for British World War II aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. (The Making of Star Trek, pp. 164-165)
- USS Endeavour (several classes) was named "in honor of British explorer James Cook's flagship and for NASA's shuttle Endeavour". (Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 240))
- USS Hood (several classes) was named for 18th century Admiral Viscount Samuel Hood after whom the ill-fated World War II British battle cruiser HMS Hood was also named. (Star Trek Fact Files, part 86, 1998)
- USS Repulse (Excelsior-class) was "named for the British battle cruiser that fought in Earth's World War II." (Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 217))
- USS Victory (Constellation-class) was named for HMS Victory, Lord Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar (Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 458))
External links[]
- Royal Navy at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Royal Navy at Wikipedia