The list of ship commissionings in 2020 includes a chronological list of all ships commissioned in 2020.
The list of ship commissionings in 2020 includes a chronological list of all ships commissioned in 2020.
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wildcat and AW101 Merlin for commando and anti-submarine warfare and the BAE Hawk as an aggressor.
The Astute class is the latest class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines (SSNs) in service with the Royal Navy. The boats are being constructed by BAE Systems Submarines at Barrow-in-Furness. Seven boats will be constructed: the first of class, Astute, was launched by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007, commissioned in 2010, and declared fully operational in May 2014. The Astute class is the replacement for the Trafalgar-class fleet submarines in Royal Navy service.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides vital logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by providing fuel and stores through replenishment at sea, transporting Royal Marines and British Army personnel, providing medical care and transporting equipment and essentials around the world. In addition the RFA acts independently providing humanitarian aid, counter piracy and counter narcotic patrols together with assisting the Royal Navy in preventing conflict and securing international trade. They are a uniformed civilian branch of the Royal Navy staffed by British merchant sailors.
HMS Trenchant is a Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy built by Vickers Shipbuilding, Barrow-in-Furness. Trenchant is in service and is based at HMNB Devonport. She is the third vessel and the second submarine of the Royal Navy to be named for the characteristic of vigour and incisiveness.
HMS Talent is the sixth of seven Trafalgar-class nuclear submarines of the Royal Navy, and was built at Barrow-in-Furness. Talent was launched by The Princess Royal in April 1988 and commissioned in May 1990. The boat is affiliated with Shrewsbury in Shropshire. Talent is the third submarine of the Royal Navy to bear the name. The first was the World War II Talent, a T-class submarine transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy as RNLMS Zwaardvisch in 1943.
HMS Ambush is an Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Royal Navy, the second boat of her class.
HMS Artful is the third Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the British Royal Navy. She is the second submarine of the Royal Navy to bear this name. Artful was ordered from GEC's Marconi Marine on 17 March 1997, and was constructed at Barrow in Furness. She was named on 20 September 2013, was rolled out of the shipyard construction hall on 16 May 2014, and was due to start sea trials in early 2015. Artful made her first successful basin dive in October 2014, and sailed on 13 August 2015 for sea trials. Artful was handed over the Royal Navy on 14 December 2015, and commissioned on 18 March 2016.
Future planning of the Royal Navy's capabilities is set through periodic Defence Reviews carried out by the British Government. The Royal Navy's role in the 2020s, and beyond, is outlined in the 2021 defence white paper, which was published on 22 March 2021. The white paper is one component of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, titled as Global Britain in a Competitive Age which was published on 16 March 2021.
Standing Royal Navy deployments is a list of operations and commitments undertaken by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy on a worldwide basis. The following list details these commitments and deployments sorted by region and in alphabetical order. Routine deployments made by the Navy's nuclear-powered submarines and their location of operations is classified.
HNLMS Evertsen (F805) is the fourth De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime), is the Royal Navy's contribution to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) maintained at very high-readiness and available at short notice to respond to unexpected global events. In addition to the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, the JEF(M) also includes elements of the British Army and the Royal Air Force. While it is primarily poised to conduct war-fighting or strike operations, the JEF(M) is capable of undertaking a diverse range of activities such as evacuation operations, disaster relief or humanitarian aid.
USS Little Rock (LCS-9) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship (LCS) of the United States Navy. She is the second ship named after Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas.
This is a list of Active Royal Navy weapon systems.
The Future Commando Force (FCF) is an in-progress modernisation programme and model of the future role and operations of the Royal Marines. The FCF essentially retasks 40 Commando and 45 Commando with implementing the infantry component of two Littoral Response Groups (LRGs), though other units from 3 Commando Brigade are also included in the compostion of LRGs, as well as changing the role and operations of the Royal Marines and the equipment and tactics they use. The FCF concept was created before 2019, when the first exercises and experiments with the FCF began. It was reinforced in the Ministry of Defence command paper Defence in a Competitive Age, which followed the Integrated Review. It describes the Royal Marines as a forward-deployed maritime special operations/special operations capable force which will work with greater agility and autonomy, and in smaller teams that specialise in raids within littoral zones, and operations within grey zones and other special operations to relieve and complement United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). The emphasis on the littoral role of the Royal Marines strongly links the FCF to the Littoral Strike concept, which is being developed and implemented by the LRGs. The FCF is also strongly linked to the "Autonomous Advanced Force" concept by its emphasis on leveraging new technologies to augment commandos on operations. A series of exercises from 2019–present have been key to developing the FCF, chiefly with experimentation.
| Ship events in 2020 | |||||||||||
| Ship launches: | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||
| Ship commissionings: | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||
| Ship decommissionings: | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||
| Shipwrecks: | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||
